Paging method, apparatus, and system

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention provide a paging method, apparatus, and system, so as to implement paging of an apparatus in an area with relatively poor signal coverage. The apparatus includes: a receiver configured to receive a broadcast message having a radio frame parameter; and a processor configured to a start paging frame (PF) and a start paging occasion (PO) according to the radio frame parameter; and the receiver is further configured to receive a paging message according to the start PF, the start PO, and a first subframe set. The first subframe set includes M first subframes in which the paging message can be received and the first subframe set follows the start PO of the start PF, where M is a quantity of times that the paging message needs to be repeatedly received.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/603,237, filed on May 23, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/281,987, filed on Sep. 30, 2016, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,681,417, which is a continuation of International ApplicationNo. PCT/CN2014/074513, filed on Apr. 1, 2014, the disclosures of whichare hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications, andin particular, to a paging method, apparatus, and system.

BACKGROUND

In mobile communication, before communication is established between abase station and UE (user equipment), the base station needs to send apaging message to a called UE, and the called UE needs to receive thepaging message in a PO (Paging Occasion) of a PF (Paging Frame, pagingframe) that is obtained by means of calculation within one DRX(Discontinuous Reception, discontinuous reception) period.

In an actual scenario, some UEs may be within an area with relativelypoor signal coverage, to ensure that UE within an area with relativelypoor signal coverage can normally receive a paging message, a basestation needs to repeatedly send the paging message to the UE in an areawith relatively poor signal coverage, so as to ensure successful pagingof the UE in an area with relatively poor signal coverage.

When multiple UEs exist in a same area with relatively poor signalcoverage, when a paging message is repeatedly sent to any one UE of themultiple UEs, sending time of paging messages for other UEs is notconsidered. If sending time of paging messages of at least two UEs hasdifferent start time, the paging messages of the at least two UEs may berepeatedly sent in a same subframe. In this case, UE receives at leasttwo paging messages in a PO of a PF obtained by means of calculation,and as a result, the UE cannot successfully parse out a paging messageof the UE, which further affects paging of UE in an area with relativelypoor signal coverage.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provides a paging method,apparatus, and system, so as to implement paging of UE in an area withrelatively poor signal coverage.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the following technical solutionsare used in the embodiments of the present invention:

According to first aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides user equipment UE, including: a receiving unit, configured toreceive, by the user equipment UE, a broadcast message sent by a basestation, where the broadcast message includes: a first radio frameparameter; and a determining unit, configured to determine whether theUE is first UE, where the first UE is UE in a coverage enhancement mode,and the coverage enhancement mode is a mode in which a paging messagesent by the base station needs to be repeatedly received, where thedetermining unit is further configured to: in a case in which it isdetermined that the UE is the first UE, determine a start PF and a startPO according to the first radio frame parameter; the determining unit isfurther configured to determine a first subframe set according to thestart PF and the start PO, where the first subframe set is M firstsubframes in which the paging message can be received and that followthe start PO of the start PF, and M is a quantity of times that the UEneeds to repeatedly receive the paging message; and the receiving unitis further configured to receive, according to the start PF, the startPO, and the first subframe set, the paging message sent by the basestation.

In a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, thebroadcast message further includes: a second radio frame parameter, anda value of the second radio frame parameter is different from a value ofthe first radio frame parameter; the determining unit is furtherconfigured to: in a case in which it is determined that the UE is notthe first UE, determine a second subframe according to the second radioframe parameter; and the receiving unit is further configured toreceive, in the second subframe, a second paging message sent by thebase station.

With respect to the first aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation mannerof the first aspect, the first subframe is a subframe, other than amulticast broadcast single frequency network MBSFN subframe, in eachframe; or the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or4 or 5 or 9 in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframe whosesequence number is 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

With respect to the first aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, in third possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB, where nB is used to determine a quantity of pagingoccasions in each paging frame, a value of nB is less than a value of afirst discontinuous reception period, and the first discontinuousreception period is a period in which the UE in the coverage enhancementmode receives a paging message.

With respect to the first aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB and a first discontinuous reception period, where avalue of nB is less than a value of the first discontinuous receptionperiod, and the first discontinuous reception period is a period inwhich the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

With respect to the first aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, where the firstdiscontinuous reception period is a period in which the UE in thecoverage enhancement mode receives a paging message; and the determiningunit is specifically configured to determine a PF, which meets a formulaSFN mod T=0, in a system frame number SFN as the start PF, and determinea preset PO as the start PO, where T denotes the first discontinuousreception period.

With respect to the first aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixth possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period and a PF offset; andthe determining unit is specifically configured to determine a PF, whichmeets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determine apreset PO as the start PO, where W denotes the PF offset, and T denotesthe first discontinuous reception period.

With respect to the first aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, a PF offset, and afirst PO; and the determining unit is specifically configured todetermine a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as thestart PF, and determine the first PO as the start PO, where T denotesthe first discontinuous reception period, and W denotes the PF offset.

With respect to the first aspect or any one of the first to seventhpossible implementation manners of the first aspect, in an eighthpossible implementation manner of the first aspect, the UE furtherincludes: an obtaining unit and a sending unit, where the obtaining unitis configured to obtain adjustment information, where the adjustmentinformation is used to record a correspondence between a coverageenhancement level and a grading parameter, the grading parameter is usedto differentiate UEs having different coverage enhancement levels, and acoverage enhancement level of the UE corresponds to a quantity of timesthat the UE receives a paging message; the obtaining unit is furtherconfigured to obtain the coverage enhancement level of the UE; thesending unit is configured to send the coverage enhancement level to thebase station; the determining unit is further configured to determine agrading parameter of the UE according to the adjustment information andthe coverage enhancement level of the UE; and the receiving unit isspecifically configured to receive, according to the start PF, the startPO, the first subframe set, and the grading parameter of the UE, thepaging message sent by the base station; or the determining unit isspecifically configured to determine the start PF and the start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter and the grading parameterof the UE.

With respect to the eighth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,the obtaining unit is specifically configured to receive the adjustmentinformation sent by the base station; or the obtaining unit isspecifically configured to obtain the prestored adjustment informationlocally.

With respect to the eighth or ninth possible implementation manner ofthe first aspect, in a tenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, the grading parameter includes: a radio network temporaryidentity RNTI, or a PO offset, or a PF group, or a PO group, where thePF group is used to record a PF corresponding to one coverageenhancement level, and the PO group is used to record one POcorresponding to the coverage enhancement level.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in an eleventh possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where the receivingunit is specifically configured to receive, in the start PO of the startPF and in a subframe in the first subframe set according to the RNTI ofthe UE, the paging message sent by the base station.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,the grading parameter includes: the PO offset, the determining unit isspecifically configured to determine a first PF and the first POaccording to the first radio frame parameter; and the determining unitis specifically configured to: determine, as the start PF and the startPO, a corresponding PF and PO that are obtained after an offset ofsubframes whose quantity equals the PO offset of the UE and in which thepaging message can be received is performed starting with the first POof the first PF.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PF group, where thedetermining unit is specifically configured to determine a first PF andthe first PO according to the first radio frame parameter; and thedetermining unit is specifically configured to determine the first PFand the first PO of a PF corresponding to the PF group of the UE as thestart PF and the start PO.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a fourteenth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PO group, where thedetermining unit is specifically configured to determine a first PFaccording to the first radio frame parameter; and the determining unitis specifically configured to determine the first PF and a POcorresponding to the PO group of the UE as the start PF and the startPO.

With respect to the first aspect or any one of the first to fourteenthpossible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a fifteenthpossible implementation manner of the first aspect, the UE furtherincludes: an update unit, where the update unit is configured to updateinformation about a camp-on cell and/or paging enhancement information,where the camp-on cell is a cell to which the UE is currently connected,and the paging enhancement information is used to indicate the coverageenhancement level of the UE; and the sending unit is configured to sendthe updated information about the camp-on cell and/or the updated pagingenhancement information to the base station.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a base station, including: a sending unit, configured to send abroadcast message to user equipment UE, where the broadcast messageincludes: a first radio frame parameter; and a determining unit,configured to determine whether the UE is first UE, where the first UEis UE in a coverage enhancement mode, and the coverage enhancement modeis a mode in which the base station needs to repeatedly send a pagingmessage, where the determining unit is further configured to: in a casein which it is determined that the UE is the first UE, determine a startPF and a start PO according to the first radio frame parameter; thedetermining unit is further configured to determine a first subframe setaccording to the start PF and the start PO, where the first subframe setincludes M first subframes in which the paging message can be sent andthat follow the start PO of the start PF, and M is a quantity of timesthat the base station needs to repeatedly send the paging message; andthe sending unit is configured to send the paging message to the UEaccording to the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set.

In a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, thebroadcast message further includes: a second radio frame parameter, anda value of the second radio frame parameter is different from a value ofthe first radio frame parameter; the determining unit is furtherconfigured to: in a case in which it is determined that the UE is notthe first UE, determine a second subframe according to the second radioframe parameter; and the sending unit is further configured to send asecond paging message to the UE in the second subframe.

With respect to the second aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation mannerof the second aspect, the first subframe is a subframe, other than amulticast broadcast single frequency network MBSFN subframe, in eachframe; or the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or4 or 5 or 9 in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframe whosesequence number is 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

With respect to the second aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, in a third possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB, where nB is used to determine a quantity of pagingoccasions in each paging frame, a value of nB is less than a value of afirst discontinuous reception period, and the first discontinuousreception period is a period in which the UE in the coverage enhancementmode receives a paging message.

With respect to the second aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, in a fourth possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB and a first discontinuous reception period, where avalue of nB is less than a value of the first discontinuous receptionperiod, and the first discontinuous reception period is a period inwhich the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

With respect to the second aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, where the firstdiscontinuous reception period is a period in which the UE in thecoverage enhancement mode receives a paging message; and the determiningunit is specifically configured to determine a PF, which meets a formulaSFN mod T=0, in a system frame number SFN as the start PF, and determinea preset PO as the start PO, where T denotes the first discontinuousreception period.

With respect to the second aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, in a sixth possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period and a PF offset; andthe determining unit is specifically configured to determine a PF, whichmeets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determine apreset PO as the start PO; W denotes the PF offset, where T denotes thefirst discontinuous reception period.

With respect to the second aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, and a PF offset,and a first PO; and the determining unit is specifically configured todetermine a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as thestart PF, and determine the first PO as the start PO, where T denotesthe first discontinuous reception period, and W denotes the PF offset.

With respect to the second aspect or any one of the first to seventhpossible implementation manners of the second aspect, in an eighthpossible implementation manner of the second aspect, the base stationfurther includes: a receiving unit, where the sending unit is furtherconfigured to send adjustment information to the UE, where theadjustment information is used to record a correspondence between acoverage enhancement level and a grading parameter, the gradingparameter is used to differentiate UEs having different coverageenhancement levels, and a coverage enhancement level of the UEcorresponds to a quantity of times that the UE needs to repeatedlyreceive a paging message; the receiving unit is configured to receivethe coverage enhancement level, sent by the UE, of the UE; thedetermining unit is further configured to determine a grading parameterof the UE according to the adjustment information and the coverageenhancement level of the UE; and the determining unit is specificallyconfigured to determine the start PF and the start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter and the grading parameter of the UE; or thesending unit is specifically configured to send the paging message tothe UE according to the start PF, the start PO, the first subframe set,and the grading parameter of the UE.

With respect to the eighth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the second aspect,the grading parameter includes: a radio network temporary identity RNTI,or a PO offset, or a paging frame PF group, or a PO group, where the PFgroup is used to record a PF corresponding to one coverage enhancementlevel, and the PO group is used to record one PO corresponding to thecoverage enhancement level.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a tenth possible implementation manner of the second aspect,the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where the sending unit isspecifically configured to send the paging message in the start PO ofthe start PF and in a subframe in the first subframe set according tothe RNTI of the UE.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in an eleventh possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PO offset, where thedetermining unit is specifically configured to determine a first PF andthe first PO according to the first radio frame parameter; and thedetermining unit is specifically configured to: determine, as the startPF and the start PO, a corresponding PF and PO that are obtained afteran offset of subframes whose quantity equals the PO offset of the UE andin which the paging message can be received is performed starting withthe first PO of the first PF.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PF group, where thedetermining unit is specifically configured to determine a first PF andthe first PO according to the first radio frame parameter; and thedetermining unit is specifically configured to determine the first PFand the first PO of a PF corresponding to the PF group of the UE as thestart PF and the start PO.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PO group, where thedetermining unit is specifically configured to determine a first PFaccording to the first radio frame parameter; and the determining unitis specifically configured to determine the first PF and a POcorresponding to the PO group of the UE as the start PF and the startPO.

With respect to the second aspect or any one of the first to thirteenthpossible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a fourteenthpossible implementation manner of the second aspect, the receiving unitis further configured to receive information, about a camp-on cell, sentby the UE and/or paging enhancement information, where the camp-on cellis a cell to which the UE is currently connected, and the pagingenhancement information is used to indicate the coverage enhancementlevel of the UE.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a paging method, including: receiving, by user equipment UE, abroadcast message sent by a base station, where the broadcast messageincludes: a first radio frame parameter; determining, by the UE, whetherthe UE is first UE, where the first UE is UE in a coverage enhancementmode, and the coverage enhancement mode is a mode in which a pagingmessage sent by the base station needs to be repeatedly received; whenthe UE determines that the UE is the first UE, determining, by the UE, astart PF and a start PO according to the first radio frame parameter;determining, by the UE, a first subframe set according to the start PFand the start PO, where the first subframe set includes M firstsubframes in which the paging message can be received and that followthe start PO of the start PF, and M is a quantity of times that the UEneeds to repeatedly receive the paging message; and receiving, by the UEaccording to the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, thepaging message sent by the base station.

In a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, thebroadcast message further includes: a second radio frame parameter, anda value of the second radio frame parameter is different from a value ofthe first radio frame parameter; when the UE determines that the UE isnot the first UE, the UE determines a second subframe according to thesecond radio frame parameter; and the UE receives, in the secondsubframe, a second paging message sent by the base station.

With respect to the third aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation mannerof the third aspect, the first subframe is a subframe, other than amulticast broadcast single frequency network MBSFN subframe, in eachframe; or the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or4 or 5 or 9 in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframe whosesequence number is 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

With respect to the third aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, in a third possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB, where nB is used to determine a quantity of pagingoccasions in each paging frame, a value of nB is less than a value of afirst discontinuous reception period, and the first discontinuousreception period is a period in which the UE in the coverage enhancementmode receives a paging message.

With respect to the third aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, in a fourth possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB and a first discontinuous reception period, where avalue of nB is less than a value of the first discontinuous receptionperiod, and the first discontinuous reception period is a period inwhich the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

With respect to the third aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, where the firstdiscontinuous reception period is a period in which the UE in thecoverage enhancement mode receives a paging message; and thedetermining, by the UE, a start PF and a start PO according to the firstradio frame parameter includes: determining, by the UE, a PF, whichmeets a formula SFN mod T=0, in a system frame number SFN as the startPF, and determining a preset PO as the start PO, where T denotes thefirst discontinuous reception period.

With respect to the third aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, in a sixth possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period and a PF offset; andthe determining, by the UE, a start PF and a start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter includes: determining, by the UE, a PF,which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as the start PF, anddetermining a preset PO as the start PO, where W denotes the PF offset,and T denotes the first discontinuous reception period.

With respect to the third aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, and a PF offset,and a first PO; the determining, by the UE, a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter includes: determining, bythe UE, a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as the startPF, and determining the first PO as the start PO, where T denotes thefirst discontinuous reception period, and W denotes the PF offset.

With respect to the third aspect or any one of the first to seventhpossible implementation manners of the third aspect, in an eighthpossible implementation manner of the third aspect, before thedetermining, by the UE, a start PF and a start PO according to the firstradio frame parameter, the paging method further includes: obtaining, bythe UE, adjustment information, where the adjustment information is usedto record a correspondence between a coverage enhancement level and agrading parameter, the grading parameter is used to differentiate UEshaving different coverage enhancement levels, and a coverage enhancementlevel of the UE corresponds to a quantity of times that the UE receivesa paging message; obtaining, by the UE, the coverage enhancement levelof the UE, and sending the coverage enhancement level to the basestation; and determining, by the UE, a grading parameter of the UEaccording to the adjustment information and the coverage enhancementlevel of the UE; where the receiving, by the UE according to the startPF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, the paging message sent bythe base station includes: receiving, by the UE according to the startPF, the start PO, the first subframe set, and the grading parameter ofthe UE, the paging message sent by the base station; or the determining,by the UE, a start PF and a start PO according to the first radio frameparameter includes: determining, by the UE, the start PF and the startPO according to the first radio frame parameter and the gradingparameter of the UE.

With respect to the eighth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the third aspect,the obtaining, by the UE, adjustment information includes: receiving, bythe UE, the adjustment information sent by the base station; orobtaining, by the UE, the prestored adjustment information locally.

With respect to the eighth or ninth possible implementation manner ofthe third aspect, in a tenth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, the grading parameter includes: a radio network temporaryidentity RNTI, or a PO offset, or a PF group, or a PO group, where thePF group is used to record a PF corresponding to one coverageenhancement level, and the PO group is used to record one POcorresponding to the coverage enhancement level.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in an eleventh possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where the receiving,by the UE according to the start PF, the start PO, the first subframeset, and the grading parameter of the UE, the paging message sent by thebase station includes: receiving, by the UE in the start PO of the startPF and in a subframe in the first subframe set according to the RNTI ofthe UE, the paging message sent by the base station.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner of the third aspect,the grading parameter includes: the PO offset, and the determining, bythe UE, the start PF and the start PO according to the first radio frameparameter and the grading parameter of the UE includes: determining, bythe UE, a first PF and the first PO according to the first radio frameparameter, and determining, by the UE as the start PF and the start PO,a corresponding PF and PO that are obtained after an offset of subframeswhose quantity equals the PO offset of the UE and in which the pagingmessage can be received is performed starting with the first PO of thefirst PF.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PF group, where thedetermining, by the UE, the start PF and the start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter and the grading parameter of the UEincludes: determining, by the UE, a first PF and the first PO accordingto the first radio frame parameter; and determining, by the UE, thefirst PF and the first PO of a PF corresponding to the PF group of theUE as the start PF and the start PO.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, in a fourteenth possible implementation manner of the thirdaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PO group, where thedetermining, by the UE, the start PF and the start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter and the grading parameter of the UEincludes: determining, by the UE, a first PF according to the firstradio frame parameter; and determining, by the UE, the first PF and a POcorresponding to the PO group of the UE as the start PF and the startPO.

With respect to the third aspect or any one of the first to fourteenthpossible implementation manners of the third aspect, in a fifteenthpossible implementation manner of the third aspect, the paging methodfurther includes: updating, by the UE, information about a camp-on celland/or paging enhancement information, where the camp-on cell is a cellto which the UE is currently connected, and the paging enhancementinformation is used to indicate the coverage enhancement level of theUE; and sending, by the UE, the updated information about the camp-oncell and/or the updated paging enhancement information to the basestation.

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a paging method, including: sending, by a base station, abroadcast message to user equipment UE, where the broadcast messageincludes: a first radio frame parameter; determining, by the basestation, whether the UE is first UE, where the first UE is UE in acoverage enhancement mode, and the coverage enhancement mode is a modein which the base station needs to repeatedly send a paging message;when the base station determines that the UE is the first UE,determining, by the base station, a start PF and a start PO according tothe first radio frame parameter; determining, by the base station, afirst subframe set according to the start PF and the start PO, where thefirst subframe set includes M first subframes in which the pagingmessage can be sent and that follow the start PO of the start PF, and Mis a quantity of times that the base station needs to repeatedly sendthe paging message; and sending, by the base station, the paging messageto the UE according to the start PF, the start PO, and the firstsubframe set.

In a first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, thebroadcast message further includes: a second radio frame parameter, anda value of the second radio frame parameter is different from a value ofthe first radio frame parameter; when the base station determines thatthe UE is not the first UE, the base station determines a secondsubframe according to the second radio frame parameter; and the basestation sends a second paging message to the UE in the second subframe.

With respect to the fourth aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation mannerof the fourth aspect, the first subframe is a subframe, other than amulticast broadcast single frequency network MBSFN subframe, in eachframe; or the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or4 or 5 or 9 in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframe whosesequence number is 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

With respect to the fourth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a third possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB, where nB is used to determine a quantity of pagingoccasions in each paging frame, a value of nB is less than a value of afirst discontinuous reception period, and the first discontinuousreception period is a period in which the UE in the coverage enhancementmode receives a paging message.

With respect to the fourth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a fourth possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB and a first discontinuous reception period, where avalue of nB is less than a value of the first discontinuous receptionperiod, and the first discontinuous reception period is a period inwhich the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

With respect to the fourth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, where the firstdiscontinuous reception period is a period in which the UE in thecoverage enhancement mode receives a paging message; and thedetermining, by the base station, a start PF and a start PO according tothe first radio frame parameter includes: determining, by the basestation, a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=0 in a system framenumber SFN as the start PF, and determining a preset PO as the start PO,where T denotes the first discontinuous reception period.

With respect to the fourth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a sixth possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period and a PF offset; andthe determining, by the base station, a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter includes: determining, bythe base station, a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN asthe start PF, and determining a preset PO as the start PO, where Wdenotes the PF offset, and T denotes the first discontinuous receptionperiod.

With respect to the fourth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, and a PF offset,and a first PO; and the determining, by the base station, a start PF anda start PO according to the first radio frame parameter includes:determining, by the base station, a PF, which meets a formula SFN modT=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determining the first PO as thestart PO, where T denotes the first discontinuous reception period, andW denotes the PF offset.

With respect to the fourth aspect or any one of the first to seventhpossible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, in an eighthpossible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the paging methodfurther includes: sending, by the base station, adjustment informationto the UE, where the adjustment information is used to record acorrespondence between a coverage enhancement level and a gradingparameter, the grading parameter is used to differentiate UEs havingdifferent coverage enhancement levels, and a coverage enhancement levelof the UE corresponds to a quantity of times that the UE needs torepeatedly receive a paging message; receiving, by the base station, thecoverage enhancement level, sent by the UE, of the UE; and determining,by the base station, a grading parameter of the UE according to theadjustment information and the coverage enhancement level of the UE; andthe determining, by the base station, a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter includes: determining, bythe base station, the start PF and the start PO according to the firstradio frame parameter and the grading parameter of the UE; or thesending, by the base station, the paging message to the UE according tothe start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set includes:sending, by the base station, the paging message to the UE according tothe start PF, the start PO, the first subframe set, and the gradingparameter of the UE.

With respect to the eighth possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect,the grading parameter includes: a radio network temporary identity RNTI,or a PO offset, or a PF group, or a PO group, where the PF group is usedto record a PF corresponding to one coverage enhancement level, and thePO group is used to record one PO corresponding to the coverageenhancement level.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, in a tenth possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect,the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where the sending, by the basestation, the paging message to the UE according to the start PF, thestart PO, the first subframe set, and the grading parameter of the UEincludes: sending, by the base station, the paging message according tothe RNTI of the UE in the start PO of the start PF and a subframe in thefirst subframe set.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, in an eleventh possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PO offset, where thedetermining, by the base station, the start PF and the start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter and the grading parameterof the UE includes: determining, by the base station, a first PF and thefirst PO according to the first radio frame parameter; and determining,by the base station as the start PF and the start PO, a corresponding PFand PO that are obtained after an offset of subframes whose quantityequals the PO offset of the UE and in which the paging message can bereceived is performed starting with the first PO of the first PF.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PF group, where thedetermining, by the base station, the start PF and the start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter and the grading parameterof the UE includes: determining, by the base station, a first PF and thefirst PO according to the first radio frame parameter; and determining,by the base station, the first PF and the first PO of a PF correspondingto the PF group of the UE as the start PF and the start PO.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation manner of the fourthaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PO group, where thedetermining, by the base station, the start PF and the start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter and the grading parameterof the UE includes: determining, by the base station, a first PFaccording to the first radio frame parameter; and determining, by thebase station, the first PF and a PO corresponding to the PO group of theUE as the start PF and the start PO.

With respect to the fourth aspect or any one of the first to thirteenthpossible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, in a fourteenthpossible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the paging methodfurther includes: receiving, by the base station, information, about acamp-on cell, sent by the UE and/or paging enhancement information,where the camp-on cell is a cell to which the UE is currently connected;and the paging enhancement information is used to indicate the coverageenhancement level of the UE.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides user equipment UE, including: a receiver, configured to receivea broadcast message sent by a base station, where the broadcast messageincludes: a first radio frame parameter; and a processor, configured todetermine whether the UE is first UE, where the first UE is UE in acoverage enhancement mode, and the coverage enhancement mode is a modein which a paging message sent by the base station needs to berepeatedly received, where the processor is further configured to: in acase in which it is determined that the UE is the first UE, determine astart PF and a start PO according to the first radio frame parameter;the processor is further configured to determine a first subframe setaccording to the start PF and the start PO, where the first subframe setincludes M first subframes in which the paging message can be receivedand that follow the start PO of the start PF, and M is a quantity oftimes that the UE needs to repeatedly receive the paging message; andthe receiver is further configured to receive, according to the startPF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, the paging message sent bythe base station.

In a first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, thebroadcast message further includes: a second radio frame parameter, anda value of the second radio frame parameter is different from a value ofthe first radio frame parameter; the processor is further configured to:in a case in which it is determined that the UE is not the first UE,determine a second subframe according to the second radio frameparameter; and the receiver is further configured to receive, in thesecond subframe, a second paging message sent by the base station.

With respect to the fifth aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation mannerof the fifth aspect, the first subframe is a subframe, other than amulticast broadcast single frequency network MBSFN subframe, in eachframe; or the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or4 or 5 or 9 in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframe whosesequence number is 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

With respect to the fifth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a third possibleimplementation manner of the fifth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB, where nB is used to determine a quantity of pagingoccasions in each paging frame, a value of nB is less than a value of afirst discontinuous reception period, and the first discontinuousreception period is a period in which the UE in the coverage enhancementmode receives a paging message.

With respect to the fifth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a fourth possibleimplementation manner of the fifth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB and a first discontinuous reception period, where avalue of nB is less than a value of the first discontinuous receptionperiod, and the first discontinuous reception period is a period inwhich the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

With respect to the fifth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation manner of the fifth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, where the firstdiscontinuous reception period is a period in which the UE in thecoverage enhancement mode receives a paging message; and the processoris specifically configured to determine a PF, which meets a formula SFNmod T=0, in a system frame number SFN as the start PF, and determine apreset PO as the start PO, where T denotes the first discontinuousreception period.

With respect to the fifth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a sixth possibleimplementation manner of the fifth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period and a PF offset; andthe processor is specifically configured to determine a PF, which meetsa formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determine a presetPO as the start PO, where W denotes the PF offset, and T denotes thefirst discontinuous reception period.

With respect to the fifth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation manner of the fifth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, and a PF offset,and a first PO; and the processor is specifically configured todetermine a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as thestart PF, and determine the first PO as the start PO, where T denotesthe first discontinuous reception period, and W denotes the PF offset.

With respect to the fifth aspect or any one of the first to seventhpossible implementation manners of the fifth aspect, in an eighthpossible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the UE furtherincludes: a transmitter, where the processor is further configured toobtain adjustment information, where the adjustment information is usedto record a correspondence between a coverage enhancement level and agrading parameter, the grading parameter is used to differentiate UEshaving different coverage enhancement levels, and a coverage enhancementlevel of the UE corresponds to a quantity of times that the UE receivesa paging message; the processor is further configured to obtain thecoverage enhancement level of the UE; the transmitter is configured tosend the coverage enhancement level to the base station; the processoris further configured to determine a grading parameter of the UEaccording to the adjustment information and the coverage enhancementlevel of the UE; and the receiver is specifically configured to receive,according to the start PF, the start PO, the first subframe set, and thegrading parameter of the UE, the paging message sent by the basestation; or the processor is specifically configured to determine thestart PF and the start PO according to the first radio frame parameterand the grading parameter of the UE.

With respect to the eighth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect,the processor is specifically configured to receive the adjustmentinformation sent by the base station; or the processor is specificallyconfigured to obtain the prestored adjustment information locally.

With respect to the eighth or ninth possible implementation manner ofthe fifth aspect, in a tenth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, the grading parameter includes: a radio network temporaryidentity RNTI, or a PO offset, or a PF group, or a PO group, where thePF group is used to record a PF corresponding to one coverageenhancement level, and the PO group is used to record one POcorresponding to the coverage enhancement level.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in an eleventh possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where the receiver isspecifically configured to receive, in the start PO of the start PF andin a subframe in the first subframe set according to the RNTI of the UE,the paging message sent by the base station.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect,the grading parameter includes: the PO offset, where the processor isspecifically configured to determine a first PF and the first POaccording to the first radio frame parameter; and the processor isspecifically configured to: determine, as the start PF and the start PO,a corresponding PF and PO that are obtained after an offset of subframeswhose quantity equals the PO offset of the UE and in which the pagingmessage can be received is performed starting with the first PO of thefirst PF.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PF group, where theprocessor is specifically configured to determine a first PF and thefirst PO according to the first radio frame parameter; and the processoris specifically configured to determine the first PF and the first PO ofa PF corresponding to the PF group of the UE as the start PF and thestart PO.

With respect to the tenth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, in a fourteenth possible implementation manner of the fifthaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PO group, where theprocessor is specifically configured to determine a first PF accordingto the first radio frame parameter; and the processor is specificallyconfigured to determine the first PF and a PO corresponding to the POgroup of the UE as the start PF and the start PO.

With respect to the fifth aspect or any one of the first to fourteenthpossible implementation manners of the fifth aspect, in a fifteenthpossible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the processor isfurther configured to update information about a camp-on cell and/orpaging enhancement information, where the camp-on cell is a cell towhich the UE is currently connected, and the paging enhancementinformation is used to indicate the coverage enhancement level of theUE; and the transmitter is further configured to send the updatedinformation about the camp-on cell and/or the updated paging enhancementinformation to the base station.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a base station, including: a transmitter, configured to send abroadcast message to user equipment UE, where the broadcast messageincludes: a first radio frame parameter; and a processor, configured todetermine whether the UE is first UE, where the first UE is UE in acoverage enhancement mode, and the coverage enhancement mode is a modein which the base station needs to repeatedly send a paging message,where the processor is further configured to: in a case in which it isdetermined that the UE is the first UE, determine a start PF and a startPO according to the first radio frame parameter; the processor isfurther configured to determine a first subframe set according to thestart PF and the start PO, where the first subframe set includes M firstsubframes in which the paging message can be sent and that follow thestart PO of the start PF, and M is a quantity of times that the basestation needs to repeatedly send the paging message; and the transmitteris configured to send the paging message to the UE according to thestart PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set.

In a first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, thebroadcast message further includes: a second radio frame parameter, anda value of the second radio frame parameter is different from a value ofthe first radio frame parameter; the processor is further configured to:in a case in which it is determined that the UE is not the first UE,determine a second subframe according to the second radio frameparameter; and the transmitter is further configured to send a secondpaging message to the UE in the second subframe.

With respect to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementationmanner of the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementation mannerof the sixth aspect, the first subframe is a subframe, other than amulticast broadcast single frequency network MBSFN subframe, in eachframe; or the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or4 or 5 or 9 in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframe whosesequence number is 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

With respect to the sixth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a third possibleimplementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB, where nB is used to determine a quantity of pagingoccasions in each paging frame, a value of nB is less than a value of afirst discontinuous reception period, and the first discontinuousreception period is a period in which the UE in the coverage enhancementmode receives a paging message.

With respect to the sixth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a fourth possibleimplementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is nB and a first discontinuous reception period, where avalue of nB is less than a value of the first discontinuous receptionperiod, and the first discontinuous reception period is a period inwhich the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

With respect to the sixth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a fifth possibleimplementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, where the firstdiscontinuous reception period is a period in which the UE in thecoverage enhancement mode receives a paging message; and the processoris specifically configured to determine a PF, which meets a formula SFNmod T=0, in a system frame number SFN as the start PF, and determine apreset PO as the start PO, where T denotes the first discontinuousreception period.

With respect to the sixth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a sixth possibleimplementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period and a PF offset; andthe processor is specifically configured to determine a PF, which meetsa formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determine a presetPO as the start PO, where W denotes the PF offset, and T denotes thefirst discontinuous reception period.

With respect to the sixth aspect or the first or second possibleimplementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a seventh possibleimplementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period, and a PF offset,and a first PO; and the processor is specifically configured todetermine a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as thestart PF, and determine the first PO as the start PO, where T denotesthe first discontinuous reception period, and W denotes the PF offset.

With respect to the sixth aspect or any one of the first to seventhpossible implementation manners of the sixth aspect, in an eighthpossible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the base stationfurther includes: a receiver, where the transmitter is furtherconfigured to send adjustment information to the UE, where theadjustment information is used to record a correspondence between acoverage enhancement level and a grading parameter, the gradingparameter is used to differentiate UEs having different coverageenhancement levels, and a coverage enhancement level of the UEcorresponds to a quantity of times that the UE needs to repeatedlyreceive a paging message; the receiver is configured to receive thecoverage enhancement level, sent by the UE, of the UE; the processor isfurther configured to determine a grading parameter of the UE accordingto the adjustment information and the coverage enhancement level of theUE; and the processor is specifically configured to determine the startPF and the start PO according to the first radio frame parameter and thegrading parameter of the UE; or the transmitter is specificallyconfigured to send the paging message to the UE according to the startPF, the start PO, the first subframe set, and the grading parameter ofthe UE.

With respect to the eighth possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect,the grading parameter includes: a radio network temporary identity RNTI,or a PO offset, or a paging frame PF group, or a PO group, where the PFgroup is used to record a PF corresponding to one coverage enhancementlevel, and the PO group is used to record one PO corresponding to thecoverage enhancement level.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in a tenth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect,the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where the transmitter isspecifically configured to send the paging message in the start PO ofthe start PF and in a subframe in the first subframe set according tothe RNTI of the UE.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in an eleventh possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PO offset, where theprocessor is specifically configured to determine a first PF and thefirst PO according to the first radio frame parameter; and the processoris specifically configured to: determine, as the start PF and the startPO, a corresponding PF and PO that are obtained after an offset ofsubframes whose quantity equals the PO offset of the UE and in which thepaging message can be received is performed starting with the first POof the first PF.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect,the grading parameter includes: the PF group, where the processor isspecifically configured to determine a first PF and the first POaccording to the first radio frame parameter; and the processor isspecifically configured to determine the first PF and the first PO of aPF corresponding to the PF group of the UE as the start PF and the startPO.

With respect to the ninth possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, in a thirteenth possible implementation manner of the sixthaspect, the grading parameter includes: the PO group, where theprocessor is specifically configured to determine a first PF accordingto the first radio frame parameter; and the processor is specificallyconfigured to determine the first PF and a PO corresponding to the POgroup of the UE as the start PF and the start PO.

With respect to the sixth aspect or any one of the first to thirteenthpossible implementation manners of the sixth aspect, in a fourteenthpossible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the receiver isfurther configured to receive information, about a camp-on cell, sent bythe UE and/or paging enhancement information, where the camp-on cell isa cell to which the UE is currently connected, and the pagingenhancement information is used to indicate the coverage enhancementlevel of the UE.

According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present inventionprovides a paging system, including: user equipment UE and a basestation, where the user equipment UE is the UE according to theforegoing embodiment; and the base station is the base station accordingto the foregoing embodiment.

For the paging method, apparatus, and system provided in the embodimentsof the present invention, UE receives a broadcast message sent by a basestation, and next, determines whether the UE is UE, that is, first UE,in a coverage enhancement mode. When the UE determines that the UE isthe first UE, the UE and the base station both determine a start pagingframe PF and a start paging occasion PO according to a first radio frameparameter, and determine a first subframe set according to the start PFand the start PO. Finally, the base station sends a paging message tothe UE according to the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframeset, and the UE receives the paging message according to the start PF,the start PO, and the first subframe set. In this way, because a firstradio frame parameter is set, UE in a coverage enhancement mode may beenabled to receive only one paging message in one subframe, therebyimplementing paging of UE in an area with relatively poor signalcoverage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the presentinvention more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanyingdrawings required for describing the embodiments. Apparently, theaccompanying drawings in the following description show merely someembodiments of the present invention, and persons of ordinary skill inthe art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawingswithout creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic function diagram of user equipment UE according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a fixed mapping relationship of a POaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a fixed mapping relationship of a POaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic function diagram of another user equipment UEaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic function diagram of another user equipment UEaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic function diagram of a base station according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic function diagram of another base station accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a paging method according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 a schematic flowchart of another paging method according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of another paging method according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of user equipment UE accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of another user equipment UEaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a base station according toan embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a paging system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following clearly describes the technical solutions in theembodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Apparently, thedescribed embodiments are merely some but not all of the embodiments ofthe present invention. All other embodiments obtained by persons ofordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the presentinvention without creative efforts shall fall within the protectionscope of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic function diagram of userequipment UE (user equipment, user equipment) according to an embodimentof the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the UE includes: areceiving unit 101 and a determining unit 102.

The receiving unit 101 is configured to receive a broadcast message sentby a base station.

The broadcast message includes: a first radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, the first radio frame parameter is a parameterthat enables all UEs in a coverage enhancement mode in the coverage ofthe base station to have a same determined start paging frames PF and asame determined start paging occasions PO, or, the first radio frameparameter is a parameter that enables a difference between determinedstart paging occasions PO of determined start paging frame PFs of everytwo UEs of all UEs in a coverage enhancement mode in the coverage of thebase station to be greater than a preset threshold.

It should be noted that, according to a different parameter carried inthe first radio frame parameter, a method for determining a start PF anda start PO according to the first radio frame parameter is different,which further results in two cases of determined start PFs and start POsof all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode. When the first radio frameparameter includes nB, a start PF and a start PO of each of all UEs inthe coverage enhancement mode are determined according to the existingstandard 36.304, and a difference between the determined start POs ofthe determined start PFs of every two of all UEs is greater than presetthreshold, as shown in a first case or a second case in the following.In this way, a quantity of subframes in which a paging message can bereceived and that are between the start POs of the start PFs of any twoUEs in the coverage enhancement mode is increased, so that a subframe inwhich either UE repeatedly receives a paging message may fall within thestart POs of the start PFs of two UEs, to cause the UE to receive, inone PO, only one paging message for the UE in the coverage enhancementmode, thereby further resolving a disadvantage in the prior art that UEreceives two paging messages in a same PO and therefore cannotsuccessfully parse out a paging message of the UE, so as to implementsuccessful paging of the UE in the coverage enhancement mode. When thefirst radio frame parameter does not include nB, start PFs and startPOs, of all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode, that are determined byusing the method of the present invention are same, as shown in any oneof a third case to a fifth case in the following. In this case, becausethe determined start PFs and the determined start POs of all the UEs inthe coverage enhancement mode are same, one paging message may be usedto carry paging of all the UEs in the coverage enhancement mode. In thisway, one UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives only one pagingmessage in one PO, thereby further resolving a disadvantage in the priorart that UE receives two paging messages in a same PO and thereforecannot successfully parse out a paging message of the UE, so as toimplement successful paging of the UE in the coverage enhancement mode.

It should be noted that, UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives apaging message by using a first discontinuous reception period, and UEthat is not in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging messageby using a second discontinuous reception period.

It should be noted that, according to whether the first radio frameparameter includes a first discontinuous reception period, a value ofthe first discontinuous reception period and a value of the seconddiscontinuous reception period may be equal or may be unequal. When thefirst radio frame parameter does not include a first discontinuousreception period, a value of the first discontinuous reception periodand a value of the second discontinuous reception period are equal, asshown in the first case in the following. When the first radio frameparameter includes a first discontinuous reception period, a value ofthe first discontinuous reception period and a value of the seconddiscontinuous reception period are unequal, but the value of the firstdiscontinuous reception period and the value of the second discontinuousreception period do not have a fixed value relationship, as shown in anyone of the second case to the fifth case in the following.

It should be noted that, there are the following five cases of the firstradio frame parameter: In the first case, the first radio frameparameter is nB, where nB is used to determine a quantity of pagingoccasions in each paging frame, a value of nB is less than a value of afirst discontinuous reception period, and the first discontinuousreception period is a period in which UE in the coverage enhancementmode receives a paging message. In the second case, the first radioframe parameter is nB and a first discontinuous reception period. In thethird case, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuousreception period. In the fourth case, the first radio frame parameter isa first discontinuous reception period and a PF offset. In the fifthcase, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuous receptionperiod, and a PF offset, and a first PO.

The determining unit 102 is configured to determine whether the UE isfirst UE.

The first UE is UE in the coverage enhancement mode. The coverageenhancement mode is a mode in which a paging message sent by the basestation needs to be repeatedly received.

It should be noted that, when UE is in an area with relatively poorsignal coverage, the UE may have an extra signal loss, and to compensatefor such a loss, a paging message may be repeatedly sent to the UE toperform successful paging of the UE. In this case, the UE in such a modeis defined to be UE in the coverage enhancement mode.

It should be noted that, when the UE determines whether the UE is thefirst UE, the UE may compare signal strength of the UE with a signalstrength threshold value preset in a system, to determine whether the UEis in the coverage enhancement mode. When the signal strength of the UEis less than the signal strength threshold value preset in the system,the UE determines that the UE is in the coverage enhancement mode, thatis, the UE is the first UE. It may also be that the UE is UE that canobtain a broadcast message of the system in only a manner of repeatedreception. The present invention is not limited thereto.

The determining unit 102 is further configured to: in a case in which itis determined that the UE is the first UE, determine a start PF and astart PO according to the first radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, each UE has a start PF and a start PO of theUE, and the start PO of the start PF is a subframe in which the UEreceives a paging message for the first time. The start PO of the startPF is a subframe in which a paging message can be received and that isin each frame in the prior art.

It should be noted that, one UE may correspond to one or more start PFsin one discontinuous period.

It should be noted that, in any one of a first case to a fifth case inthe following, one or more PFs in a first discontinuous reception periodmay be calculated. When only one PF is calculated, a start PF in whichthe base station sends a paging message to the UE in the coverageenhancement mode is a PF calculated in a first first discontinuousreception period, and a start PF in which the base station sends anotherpaging message to the UE is a PF calculated in a second firstdiscontinuous reception period. When multiple PFs are calculated, astart PF in which the base station sends a paging message to the UE inthe coverage enhancement mode is a first PF calculated in the firstdiscontinuous reception period, and a start PF in which the base stationsends another paging message to the UE is a second PF calculated in thefirst discontinuous reception period.

It should be noted that, according to a different first radio frameparameter, a method of determining, by the UE, a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter is different.

Further, according to a different specific case of the first radio frameparameter, there are several cases of specific application of thedetermining unit 102 as follows:

In the first case, when the first radio frame parameter is nB:

The determining unit 102 is specifically configured to calculate a valueof a PF according to a formula

${{SFN}\mspace{14mu}{mod}\mspace{14mu} T} = {\left( \frac{T}{N} \right) \times {\left( {{UE\_ ID}\mspace{14mu}{mod}\mspace{14mu} N} \right).}}$A value of any SFN (System Frame Number, system frame number) that meetsthe formula is a value of the PF. A value range of the SFN is 0-1023. Tis a parameter of DRX (Discontinuous Reception, discontinuous receptionmechanism), and denote a first discontinuous reception period, a valueof which is 32, or 64, or 128, or 256. N=min (T, nB), and a value of nBis T/2, or T/4, or T/8, or T/16, or T/32. UE_ID=IMSI mod 1024, and IMSI(International Mobile Subscriber Identity, International MobileSubscriber Identity) is an IMSI of the UE. After the PF is calculated,the base station calculates a value of i_s according to a formulai_s=floor(UE_ID/N)mod Ns, where a value of Ns is 1, or 2, or 4; andfloor is an algorithm of obtaining a maximum integer less than UE_ID/N.Next, according to a fixed mapping relationship between i_s and Ns andPO in an FDD (Frequency Division Duplexing, frequency divisionduplexing) system shown in FIG. 2, or according to a fixed mappingrelationship between i_s and Ns and PO in a TDD (Time DivisionDuplexing, time division duplexing) system shown in FIG. 3, the value ofthe PO is determined. Finally, the UE determines all calculated PFs anda calculated PO as start PFs and a start PO.

In the second case, when the first radio frame parameter is nB and afirst discontinuous reception period:

It should be noted that, a method of determining, by the determiningunit 102, a start PF and a start PO according to the first radio frameparameter is the same as the method in the first case, and details areno longer described herein.

In the third case, when the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period:

The determining unit 102 is specifically configured to determine a PF,which meets a formula SFN mod T==0, in a system frame number SFN as thestart PF, and determine a preset PO as the start PO.

T denotes the first discontinuous reception period.

Specifically, the determining unit 102 calculates the value of the PFaccording to the formula SFN mod T=0. A value of any SFN that meets theformula is a value of a start PF. A value range of the SFN is 0-1023. Tdenotes the first discontinuous reception period. After the PF iscalculated, the UE determines the system preset PO as the start PO.

In the fourth case, when the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period and a PF offset:

The determining unit 102 is specifically configured to determine a PF,which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as the start PF, anddetermine a preset PO as the start PO; W denotes the PF offset.

Specifically, the determining unit 102 calculates the value of the PFaccording to the formula SFN mod T=W. A value of any SFN that meets theformula is a value of a start PF. A value range of the SFN is 0-1023. Tdenotes the first discontinuous reception period. After the PF iscalculated, the UE determines the system preset PO as the start PO.

In the fifth case, when the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period, and a PF offset, and a first PO:

The determining unit 102 is specifically configured to determine a PF,which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as the start PF, anddetermine the first PO as the start PO.

Specifically, the determining unit 102 calculates the value of the PFaccording to the formula SFN mod T=W. A value of any SFN that meets theformula is a value of a start PF. A value range of the SFN is 0-1023. Tdenotes the first discontinuous reception period; W denotes the PFoffset. After the PF is calculated, the UE determines a first PO as thestart PO.

It should be noted that, the first PO may be one PO in one PF, or may bemultiple POs in one PF. The present invention is not limited thereto.

The determining unit 102 is further configured to determine a firstsubframe set according to the start PF and the start PO.

The first subframe set includes M first subframes in which the pagingmessage can be received and that follow the start PO of the start PF. Mis a quantity of times that the UE needs to repeatedly receive thepaging message.

Specifically, the determining unit 102 uses the start PO of the start PFas a reference, and determines, consecutive M subframes in which apaging message can be received and that follow the start PO of the startPF as a first subframe, where a set of these subframes is referred to asa first subframe set.

Further, the first subframe is a subframe, other than a multicastbroadcast single frequency network MBSFN (multicast broadcast singlefrequency network, multicast broadcast single frequency network)subframe, in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframe whosesequence number is 0 or 4 or 5 or 9 in each frame; or the first subframeis a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

It should be noted that, in whichever communications system, the firstsubframe must be a subframe, other than the MBSFN subframe, in eachframe.

Further, when the communications system is an FDD (Frequency DivisionDuplexing, frequency division duplexing) system, the first subframe maybe a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or 4 or 5 or 9 in each frame inthe first discontinuous reception period. When the communications systemis a TDD (Time Division Duplexing, time division duplexing) system, thefirst subframe set may be a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or 1 or5 or 6 in each frame in the first discontinuous reception period.

It should be noted that, subframes 0, 4, 5, and 9 in the FDD system aresubframes that may be used to transmit a paging message in the priorart. Subframes 0, 1, 5, and 6 in the TDD system are subframes that maybe used to transmit a paging message in the prior art.

The receiving unit 101 is further configured to receive, according tothe start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, the pagingmessage sent by the base station.

Specifically, the receiving unit 101 receives, in the start PO of thestart PF and each subframe in the first subframe set, the paging messagesent by the base station.

It should be noted that, the repeatedly received paging message refersto a paging message received by the UE other than the paging messagereceived in a start PO of a start PF.

It should be noted that, a process in which the receiving unit 101receives, in the first subframe set in each subframe, the paging messagesent by the base station is the same as a process in which the receivingunit 101 receives, in the start PO of the start PF, the paging messagesent by the base station.

Further, the broadcast message further includes: a second radio frameparameter. A value of the second radio frame parameter is different froma value of the first radio frame parameter.

The determining unit 102 is further configured to: in a case in which itis determined that the UE is not the first UE, determine a secondsubframe according to the second radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, when the determining unit 102 determines thatthe UE is not the first UE, the UE only needs to determine the secondsubframe according to the second radio frame parameter by using acalculation method in the prior art.

It should be noted that, the second radio frame parameter is a parameterthat needs to be sent by the base station to the UE when the PF and thePO of the UE are determined according to the standard 36.304 in theprior art.

The receiving unit 101 is further configured to receive, in the secondsubframe, a second paging message sent by the base station.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the UE further includes: an obtaining unit103 and a sending unit 104.

The obtaining unit 103 is configured to obtain adjustment information.

The adjustment information is used to record a correspondence between acoverage enhancement level and a grading parameter, the gradingparameter is used to differentiate UEs having different coverageenhancement levels, and a coverage enhancement level of the UEcorresponds to a quantity of times that the UE receives a pagingmessage.

It should be noted that, when coverage enhancement modes of UEs are notclassified according to a level, all UEs receive a paging messageaccording to a maximum quantity of times that a paging message needs tobe repeatedly received. In this way, for UE that does not need toreceive a paging message according to a maximum quantity of times ofreceiving a paging message repeatedly, many resources are wasted.Therefore, on such a basis, according to a different coverageenhancement level of UE, different adjustment information is provided tothe UE, so that for UE having a different coverage enhancement level, aquantity of times of sending a paging message is different.

Further, according to a different setting of the system, there arespecifically two application cases of the obtaining unit 103:

First, the obtaining unit 103 is specifically configured to receive theadjustment information sent by the base station.

It should be noted that, the base station may add the adjustmentinformation to the broadcast message and send the adjustment informationand the first radio frame parameter together to the UE, or may add theadjustment information to another message, for example, anotherbroadcast message or an RRC message, sent from the base station to theUE and send the adjustment information. Which message the base stationuses to carry the adjustment information is not limited in the presentinvention.

It should be noted that, the adjustment information records all coverageenhancement levels and a grading parameter corresponding to eachcoverage enhancement level, and therefore the base station sends theadjustment information to all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode.

Second, the obtaining unit 103 is specifically configured to obtain theprestored adjustment information locally.

It should be noted that, in this case, the adjustment information isrecorded in each UE when the system is established.

Further, the grading parameter includes: an RNTI (Radio NetworkTemporary Identity, radio network temporary identity), or a PO offset,or a PF group, or a PO group. The PF group is used to record a PFcorresponding to one coverage enhancement level. The PO group is used torecord one PO corresponding to the coverage enhancement level.

The obtaining unit 103 is further configured to obtain the coverageenhancement level of the UE.

The sending unit 104 is configured to send the coverage enhancementlevel to the base station.

The determining unit 102 is further configured to determine a gradingparameter of the UE according to the adjustment information and thecoverage enhancement level of the UE.

It should be noted that, the determining unit 102 finds, in theadjustment information, a record having a same coverage enhancementlevel as the UE, and obtains an adjustment parameter of the UE accordingto a one-to-one correspondence between a coverage enhancement level andan adjustment parameter.

In this case, the receiving unit 101 is specifically configured toreceive, according to the start PF, the start PO, the first subframeset, and the grading parameter of the UE, the paging message sent by thebase station.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where thereceiving unit 101 is specifically configured to receive, in the startPO of the start PF and in a subframe in the first subframe set accordingto the RNTI of the UE, the paging message sent by the base station.

Alternatively:

In this case, the determining unit 102 is specifically configured todetermine the start PF and the start PO according to the first radioframe parameter and the grading parameter of the UE.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the PO offset, where thedetermining unit 102 is specifically configured to determine a first PFand a first PO according to the first radio frame parameter. Thedetermining unit 102 is specifically configured to: determine, as thestart PF and the start PO, a corresponding PF and PO that are obtainedafter an offset of subframes whose quantity equals the PO offset of theUE and in which the paging message can be received is performed startingwith the first PO of the first PF.

The grading parameter includes: the PF group, where the determining unit102 is specifically configured to determine a first PF and the first POaccording to the first radio frame parameter. The determining unit 102is specifically configured to determine the first PF and the first PO ofa PF corresponding to the PF group of the UE as the start PF and thestart PO.

The grading parameter includes: the PO group, where the determining unit102 is specifically configured to determine a first PF according to thefirst radio frame parameter. The determining unit 102 is specificallyconfigured to determine the first PF and a PO corresponding to the POgroup of the UE as the start PF and the start PO.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the UE further includes: an update unit105.

The update unit 105 is configured to update information about a camp-oncell and/or paging enhancement information.

The camp-on cell is a cell to which the UE is currently connected, andthe paging enhancement information is used to indicate the coverageenhancement level of the UE.

The sending unit 104 is further configured to send the updatedinformation about the camp-on cell and/or the updated paging enhancementinformation to the base station.

For the user equipment UE provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, the UE receives a broadcast message sent by a base station,and next, determines whether the UE is UE, that is, first UE, in acoverage enhancement mode. When the UE determines that the UE is thefirst UE, the UE determines a start paging frame PF and a start pagingoccasion PO according to a first radio frame parameter, determines afirst subframe set according to the start PF and the start PO, andfinally receives, according to the start PF, the start PO, and the firstsubframe set, the paging message sent by the base station. In this way,because a first radio frame parameter is set, UE in a coverageenhancement mode may be enabled to receive only one paging message inone subframe, thereby implementing paging of UE in an area withrelatively poor signal coverage.

As shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a schematic function diagram of abasestation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referringto FIG. 6, the base station includes: a sending unit 601 and adetermining unit 602.

The sending unit 601 is configured to send a broadcast message to userequipment UE.

The broadcast message includes: a first radio frame parameter.

Further, the broadcast message further includes: a second radio frameparameter. A value of the second radio frame parameter is different froma value of the first radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, the second radio frame parameter is a parameterthat enables UE that is not in a coverage enhancement mode in thecoverage of the base station to determine a start PF and a start PO.

It should be noted that, the sending unit 601 sends the first radioframe parameter and the second radio frame parameter to all UEs servedby the base station, and UE that receives the broadcast messagedetermines, according to whether the UE is UE in a coverage enhancementmode, whether to use the first radio frame parameter or the second radioframe parameter, where when the UE determines that the UE is in thecoverage enhancement mode, the UE uses the first radio frame parameter;and when the UE determines that the UE is not in the coverageenhancement mode, the UE uses the second radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode usethe same first radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, the first radio frame parameter is a parameterthat enables all UEs in a coverage enhancement mode in the coverage ofthe base station to have a same determined start paging frames PF and asame determined start paging occasions PO, or, the first radio frameparameter is a parameter that enables a difference between determinedstart paging occasions PO of determined start paging frame PFs of everytwo UEs of all UEs in a coverage enhancement mode in the coverage of thebase station to be greater than a preset threshold.

It should be noted that, according to a different parameter carried inthe first radio frame parameter, a method for determining a start PF anda start PO according to the first radio frame parameter is different,which further results in two cases of determined start PFs and start POsof all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode. When the first radio frameparameter includes nB, a start PF and a start PO of each of all UEs inthe coverage enhancement mode are determined according to the existingstandard 36.304, and a difference between the determined start POs ofthe determined start PFs of every two of all UEs is greater than presetthreshold, as shown in a first case or a second case in the following.In this way, a quantity of subframes in which a paging message can besent and that are between the start POs of the start PFs of any two UEsin the coverage enhancement mode is increased, so that a subframe inwhich either UE repeatedly sends a paging message may fall within thestart POs of the start PFs of two UEs, to cause the base station to sendonly one paging message for UE in the coverage enhancement mode in onePO, thereby further resolving a disadvantage in the prior art that UEreceives two paging messages in a same PO and therefore cannotsuccessfully parse out a paging message of the UE, so as to implementsuccessful paging of the UE in the coverage enhancement mode. When thefirst radio frame parameter does not include nB, start PFs and startPOs, of all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode, that are determined byusing the method of the present invention are same, as shown in any oneof a third case to a fifth case in the following. In this case, becausethe determined start PFs and the determined start POs of all the UEs inthe coverage enhancement mode are same, one paging message may be usedto carry paging of all the UEs in the coverage enhancement mode. In thisway, one UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives only one pagingmessage in one PO, thereby further resolving a disadvantage in the priorart that UE receives only two paging messages in a same PO and thereforecannot successfully parse out a paging message of the UE, so as toimplement successful paging of the UE in the coverage enhancement mode.

It should be noted that, UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives apaging message by using a first discontinuous reception period, and UEthat is not in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging messageby using a second discontinuous reception period.

It should be noted that, according to whether the first radio frameparameter includes a first discontinuous reception period, a value ofthe first discontinuous reception period and a value of the seconddiscontinuous reception period may be equal or may be unequal. When thefirst radio frame parameter does not include a first discontinuousreception period, a value of the first discontinuous reception periodand a value of the second discontinuous reception period are equal, asshown in the first case in the following. When the first radio frameparameter includes a first discontinuous reception period, a value ofthe first discontinuous reception period and a value of the seconddiscontinuous reception period are unequal, but the value of the firstdiscontinuous reception period and the value of the second discontinuousreception period do not have a fixed value relationship, as shown in anyone of the second case to the fifth case in the following.

Further, the first radio frame parameter includes five cases: In thefirst case, the first radio frame parameter is nB, where nB is used todetermine a quantity of paging occasions in each paging frame, a valueof nB is less than a value of a first discontinuous reception period,and the first discontinuous reception period is a period in which the UEin the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message. In thesecond case, the first radio frame parameter is nB and a firstdiscontinuous reception period. In the third case, the first radio frameparameter is a first discontinuous reception period. In the fourth case,the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuous receptionperiod and a paging frame PF offset. In the fifth case, the first radioframe parameter is a first discontinuous reception period, a PF offset,and a first paging occasion PO.

The determining unit 602 is configured to determine whether the UE isfirst UE.

The first UE is UE in the coverage enhancement mode. The coverageenhancement mode is a mode in which the base station needs to repeatedlysend a paging message.

The determining unit 602 is further configured to: in a case in which itis determined that the UE is the first UE, determine a start PF and astart PO according to the first radio frame parameter.

The determining unit 602 is further configured to determine a firstsubframe set according to the start PF and the start PO.

The first subframe set includes M first subframes in which the pagingmessage can be sent and that follow the start PO of the start PF. M is aquantity of times that the base station needs to repeatedly send thepaging message.

Further, the first subframe is a subframe, other than a multicastbroadcast single frequency network MBSFN subframe, in each frame; or thefirst subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or 4 or 5 or 9in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence numberis 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

Specifically, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuousreception period, where the first discontinuous reception period is aperiod in which the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives apaging message; and the determining unit 602 is specifically configuredto determine a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=0 in a system framenumber SFN as the start PF, and determine a preset PO as the start PO,where T denotes the first discontinuous reception period.

Specifically, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuousreception period and a PF offset; and the determining unit 602 isspecifically configured to determine a PF, which meets a formula SFN modT=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determine a preset PO as the startPO, where W denotes the PF offset, and T denotes the first discontinuousreception period.

Specifically, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuousreception period, and a PF offset, and a first PO; and the determiningunit 602 is specifically configured to determine a PF, which meets aformula SFN mod T=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determine the firstPO as the start PO, where T denotes the first discontinuous receptionperiod, and W denotes the PF offset.

The sending unit 601 is further configured to send the paging message tothe UE according to the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframeset.

Specifically, the sending unit 601 sends the paging message for the UEin the start PO of the start PF and in each subframe in the firstsubframe set.

It should be noted that, the repeatedly sent paging message refers to apaging message sent by the base station outside the start PO of thestart PF.

Further, in a case in which the broadcast message further includes: thesecond radio frame parameter, the determining unit 602 is furtherconfigured to: in a case in which it is determined that the UE is notthe first UE, determine a second subframe according to the second radioframe parameter. The sending unit 601 is further configured to send asecond paging message to the UE in the second subframe.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the base station further includes: areceiving unit 603.

The sending unit 601 is further configured to send adjustmentinformation to the UE.

The adjustment information is used to record a correspondence between acoverage enhancement level and a grading parameter, the gradingparameter is used to differentiate UEs having different coverageenhancement levels, and a coverage enhancement level of the UEcorresponds to a quantity of times that the UE needs to repeatedlyreceive a paging message.

Further, the grading parameter includes: a radio network temporaryidentity RNTI, or a PO offset, or a paging frame PF group, or a POgroup, where the PF group is used to record a PF corresponding to onecoverage enhancement level, and the PO group is used to record one POcorresponding to the coverage enhancement level.

The receiving unit 603 is configured to receive the coverage enhancementlevel, sent by the UE, of the UE.

The determining unit 602 is further configured to determine a gradingparameter of the UE according to the adjustment information and thecoverage enhancement level of the UE.

The determining unit 602 is specifically configured to determine thestart PF and the start PO according to the first radio frame parameterand the grading parameter of the UE.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the PO offset, where thedetermining unit 602 is specifically configured to determine a first PFand a first PO according to the first radio frame parameter; and thedetermining unit 602 is specifically configured to: determine, as thestart PF and the start PO, a corresponding PF and PO that are obtainedafter an offset of subframes whose quantity equals the PO offset of theUE and in which the paging message can be received is performed startingwith the first PO of the first PF.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the PF group, where thedetermining unit 602 is specifically configured to determine a first PFand the first PO according to the first radio frame parameter; and thedetermining unit 602 is specifically configured to determine the firstPF and the first PO of a PF corresponding to the PF group of the UE asthe start PF and the start PO.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the PO group, where thedetermining unit 602 is specifically configured to according to thefirst radio frame parameter determine the first PF; and the determiningunit 602 is specifically configured to determine a first PF and a POcorresponding to the PO group of the UE as the start PF and the startPO.

Alternatively:

The sending unit 601 is specifically configured to send the pagingmessage to the UE according to the start PF, the start PO, the firstsubframe set, and the grading parameter of the UE.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where thesending unit 601 is specifically configured to send the paging messagein the start PO of the start PF and in a subframe in the first subframeset according to the RNTI of the UE.

Specifically, when the UE receives the paging message, the UE listens tofind whether there is a PDCCH (physical downlink control channel,physical downlink control channel) scrambled by using the RNTI of theUE, and when the UE listens and detects a PDSCH scrambled by using theRNTI, it indicates that the base station sends the paging message to theUE, so that the UE receives, in the start PO of the start PF and asubframe in the first subframe set, the paging message sent by the basestation.

Further, the receiving unit 603 is further configured to receiveinformation, about a camp-on cell, sent by the UE and/or pagingenhancement information.

The camp-on cell is a cell to which the UE is currently connected.

The paging enhancement information is used to indicate the coverageenhancement level of the UE.

For the base station provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, the base station first sends a broadcast message to UE, andnext, determines whether the UE is UE, that is, first UE, in a coverageenhancement mode. When it is determined that the UE is the first UE, thebase station determines a start paging frame PF and a start pagingoccasion PO according to a first radio frame parameter, determines afirst subframe set according to the start PF and the start PO, andfinally sends a paging message according to the start PF, the start PO,and the first subframe set. In this way, because a first radio frameparameter is set, UE in a coverage enhancement mode may be enabled toreceive only one paging message in one subframe, thereby implementingpaging of UE in an area with relatively poor signal coverage.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a paging method. Asshown in FIG. 8, the paging method includes:

801: UE receives a broadcast message sent by a base station.

The broadcast message includes: a first radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, the first radio frame parameter is a parameterthat enables all UEs in a coverage enhancement mode in the coverage ofthe base station to have a same determined start paging frames PF and asame determined start paging occasions PO, or, the first radio frameparameter is a parameter that enables a difference between determinedstart paging occasions PO of determined start paging frame PFs of everytwo UEs of all UEs in a coverage enhancement mode in the coverage of thebase station to be greater than a preset threshold.

It should be noted that, according to a different parameter carried inthe first radio frame parameter, a method for determining a start PF anda start PO according to the first radio frame parameter is different,which further results in two cases of determined start PFs and start POsof all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode. When the first radio frameparameter includes nB, a start PF and a start PO of each of all UEs inthe coverage enhancement mode are determined according to the existingstandard 36.304, and a difference between the determined start POs ofthe determined start PFs of every two of all UEs is greater than presetthreshold, as shown in a first case or a second case in the following.In this way, a quantity of subframes in which a paging message can bereceived and that are between the start POs of the start PFs of any twoUEs in the coverage enhancement mode is increased, so that a subframe inwhich either UE repeatedly receives a paging message may fall within thestart POs of the start PFs of two UEs, to cause the UE to receive, inone PO, only one paging message for the UE in the coverage enhancementmode, thereby further resolving a disadvantage in the prior art that UEreceives two paging messages in a same PO and therefore cannotsuccessfully parse out a paging message of the UE, so as to implementsuccessful paging of the UE in the coverage enhancement mode. When thefirst radio frame parameter does not include nB, start PFs and startPOs, of all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode, that are determined byusing the method of the present invention are same, as shown in any oneof a third case to a fifth case in the following. In this case, becausethe determined start PFs and the determined start POs of all the UEs inthe coverage enhancement mode are same, one paging message may be usedto carry paging of all the UEs in the coverage enhancement mode. In thisway, one UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives only one pagingmessage in one PO, thereby further resolving a disadvantage in the priorart that UE receives two paging messages in a same PO and thereforecannot successfully parse out a paging message of the UE, so as toimplement successful paging of the UE in the coverage enhancement mode.

It should be noted that, UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives apaging message by using a first discontinuous reception period, and UEthat is not in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging messageby using a second discontinuous reception period.

It should be noted that, according to whether the first radio frameparameter includes a first discontinuous reception period, a value ofthe first discontinuous reception period and a value of the seconddiscontinuous reception period may be equal or may be unequal. When thefirst radio frame parameter does not include a first discontinuousreception period, a value of the first discontinuous reception periodand a value of the second discontinuous reception period are equal, asshown in the first case in the following. When the first radio frameparameter includes a first discontinuous reception period, a value ofthe first discontinuous reception period and a value of the seconddiscontinuous reception period are unequal, but the value of the firstdiscontinuous reception period and the value of the second discontinuousreception period do not have a fixed value relationship, as shown in anyone of the second case to the fifth case in the following.

It should be noted that, according to different content included in thefirst radio frame parameter, there may be five cases:

In the first case, the first radio frame parameter is nB.

nB is used to determine a quantity of paging occasions in each pagingframe, a value of nB is less than a value of a first discontinuousreception period, and the first discontinuous reception period is aperiod in which the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives apaging message.

It should be noted that, in this case, discontinuous reception periodsof all UEs served by the base station are the same, that is, a value ofa first discontinuous reception period used by UE in the coverageenhancement mode is the same as a value of a second discontinuousreception period used by UE that is not in the coverage enhancementmode; however, the UE in the coverage enhancement mode and the UE thatis not in the coverage enhancement mode have different values of radioframe parameters, and the first radio frame parameter of the UE in thecoverage enhancement mode is nB.

It should be noted that, nB not only needs to meet a condition that avalue of nB is less than a value of a first discontinuous receptionperiod, but also needs to meet a limitation on the value of nB in theprior art. For example, in the prior art, the value of nB is 4T, or 2T,or T, or T/2, or T/4, or T/8, or T/16, or T/32. T denotes a firstdiscontinuous reception period. It can be known by combining the twoconditions that in this case, nB can be only T/2, or T/4, or T/8, orT/16, or T/32.

It should be noted that, in only a case in which a value of nB is lessthan a value of a first discontinuous reception period, paginginformation of all UEs that need to repeatedly receive a paging messagecan be carried in a same paging message and sent according to anexisting algorithm, so as to avoid a case in which different UEs thatrepeatedly send a paging message have different start time and thereforethe UEs cannot correctly receive paging message of the UEs.

It should be noted that, the first discontinuous reception period is aperiod in which the UE receives a paging message sent by the basestation. There are multiple frames in one first discontinuous receptionperiod, and each frame cannot be used to receive the paging message.Among all frames, a frame that can be used to receive the paging messageis referred to as a PF (Paging Frame, paging frame). Similarly, oneframe has ten subframes, and each subframe cannot be used to receive thepaging message. A subframe that can be used to receive the pagingmessage in the PF is referred to as a PO (Paging Occasion).

Exemplarily, in an LTE (Long Term Evolution, 3GPP Long Term Evolution)system, one first discontinuous reception period T is evenly dividedinto 1024 frames, and one frame is 10 ms. Further, one frame is dividedinto ten subframes.

It should be noted that, in this case, paging information, by the basestation, of all UEs that need to repeatedly receive a paging message maybe carried in a same paging message and the same paging message is sentto all the UEs that need to repeatedly receive a paging message.

In the second case, the first radio frame parameter is nB and a firstdiscontinuous reception period.

A value of nB is less than a value of the first discontinuous receptionperiod, and the first discontinuous reception period is a period inwhich the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

In the third case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period.

The first discontinuous reception period is a period in which the UE inthe coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

In the fourth case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period and a PF offset.

It should be noted that, the PF offset is a preset value.

In the fifth case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period, and a PF offset, and a first PO.

It should be noted that, the first PO is one or more POs in each PF thatare preset in a system.

802: The UE determines whether the UE is first UE.

The first UE is UE in a coverage enhancement mode. the coverageenhancement mode is a mode in which the paging message sent by the basestation needs to be repeatedly received.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, quantities of times thatall UEs in the coverage enhancement mode need to repeatedly receive apaging message are the same. In this case, generally a quantity of timesthat a paging message is repeatedly received is set according to amaximum value of a quantity of times that each UE of all first UEs needsto repeatedly receive a paging message.

It should be noted that, when UE is in an area with relatively poorsignal coverage, the UE may have an extra signal loss, and to compensatefor such a loss, a paging message may be repeatedly sent to the UE toperform successful paging of the UE. In this case, the UE in such a modeis defined to be UE in the coverage enhancement mode.

It should be noted that, when the UE determines whether the UE is thefirst UE, the UE may compare signal strength of the UE with a signalstrength threshold value preset in a system, to determine whether the UEis in the coverage enhancement mode. When the signal strength of the UEis less than the signal strength threshold value preset in the system,the UE determines that the UE is in the coverage enhancement mode, thatis, the UE is the first UE. It may also be that the UE is UE that canobtain a broadcast message of the system in only a manner of repeatedreception. The present invention is not limited thereto.

803: When the UE determines that the UE is the first UE, the UEdetermines a start PF and a start PO according to a first radio frameparameter.

It should be noted that, each UE has a start PF and a start PO of theUE, and the start PO of the start PF is a subframe in which the UEreceives a paging message for the first time. The start PO of the startPF is a subframe in which a paging message can be received and that isin each frame in the prior art.

It should be noted that, one UE may correspond to one or more start PFsin one discontinuous period.

It should be noted that, in any one of a first case to a fifth case inthe following, one or more PFs in a first discontinuous reception periodmay be calculated. When only one PF is calculated, a start PF in whichthe base station sends a paging message to the UE in the coverageenhancement mode is a PF calculated in a first first discontinuousreception period, and a start PF in which the base station sends anotherpaging message to the UE is a PF calculated in a second firstdiscontinuous reception period. When multiple PFs are calculated, astart PF in which the base station sends a paging message to the UE inthe coverage enhancement mode is a first PF calculated in the firstdiscontinuous reception period, and a start PF in which the base stationsends another paging message to the UE is a second PF calculated in thefirst discontinuous reception period.

Exemplarily, when only one PF, for example, PF1 is calculated, a startPF in which the base station sends, to the UE, a paging message for theUE from UE1 is the PF in the first first discontinuous reception period,and a start PF in which the base station sends, to the UE, a pagingmessage for the UE from UE2 is the PF in the second first discontinuousreception period. When two PFs, for example, PF1 and PF2, arecalculated, a start PF in which the base station sends, to the UE, apaging message for the UE from UE1 is PF1 in one first discontinuousreception period, and a start PF in which the base station sends, to theUE, the paging message for the UE from UE2 is PF2 in a same firstdiscontinuous reception period.

It should be noted that, according to a different first radio frameparameter, a method of determining, by the UE, a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter is different.

Specifically, there may be the following five cases:

In the first case, when the first radio frame parameter is nB:

The determining, by the UE, a start PF and a start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter includes:

calculating, by the UE, the value of the PF according to a formula

${{{SFN}\mspace{14mu}{mod}\mspace{14mu} T} = {\left( \frac{T}{N} \right) \times \left( {{UE\_ ID}\mspace{14mu}{mod}\mspace{14mu} N} \right)}},$where a value of any SFN (System Frame Number, system frame number) thatmeets the formula is a value of the PF. A value range of the SFN is0-1023. T is a parameter of DRX (Discontinuous Reception, discontinuousreception mechanism), and denotes a first discontinuous receptionperiod, a value of which is 32, or 64, or 128, or 256. N=min (T, nB),and a value of nB is T/2, or T/4, or T/8, or T/16, or T/32. UE_ID=IMSImod 1024, and IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity,International Mobile Subscriber Identity) is an IMSI of the UE. Afterthe PF is calculated, the base station calculates a value of i_saccording to a formula i_s=floor(UE_ID/IN)mod Ns, where a value of Ns is1, or 2, or 4; and floor is an algorithm of obtaining a maximum integerless than UE_ID/N. Next, according to a fixed mapping relationshipbetween i_s and Ns and PO in the FDD (Frequency Division Duplexing,frequency division duplexing) system shown in FIG. 2, or according to afixed mapping relationship between i_s and Ns and PO in the TDD (TimeDivision Duplexing, time division duplexing) system shown in FIG. 3, thevalue of the PO is determined. Finally, the UE determines all calculatedPFs and a calculated PO as start PFs and a start PO.

In the second case, when the first radio frame parameter is nB and afirst discontinuous reception period:

Specifically, a method of determining, by the UE, a start PF and a startPO according to the first radio frame parameter is the same as themethod in the first case, and details are no longer described herein.

In the third case, when the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period:

The determining, by the UE, a start PF and a start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter includes:

The UE determines a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=0, in a systemframe number SFN as the start PF, and determines a preset PO as thestart PO.

T denotes the first discontinuous reception period.

Specifically, the UE calculates the value of the PF according to theformula SFN mod T=0. A value of any SFN that meets the formula is avalue of a start PF. A value range of the SFN is 0-1023. T denotes thefirst discontinuous reception period. After the PF is calculated, the UEdetermines the system preset PO as the start PO.

In the fourth case, when the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period and a PF offset:

The determining, by the UE, a start PF and a start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter includes:

determining, by the UE a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=W as thestart PF, and determining a preset PO as the start PO, where W denotesthe PF offset.

Specifically, the UE calculates the value of the PF according to theformula SFN mod T=W. A value of any SFN that meets the formula is avalue of a start PF. A value range of the SFN is 0-1023. T denotes thefirst discontinuous reception period. After the PF is calculated, the UEdetermines the system preset PO as the start PO.

In the fifth case, when the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period, and a PF offset, and a first PO:

The determining, by the UE, a start PF and a start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter includes:

determining, by the UE, a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in anSFN as the start PF, and determining the first PO as the start PO.

Specifically, the UE calculates the value of the PF according to theformula SFN mod T=W. A value of any SFN that meets the formula is avalue of a start PF. A value range of the SFN is 0-1023. T denotes thefirst discontinuous reception period; and W denotes the PF offset. Afterthe PF is calculated, the UE determines a first PO as the start PO.

It should be noted that, the first PO may be one PO in one PF, or may bemultiple POs in one PF. The present invention is not limited thereto.

804: The UE determines a first subframe set according to the start PFand the start PO.

The first subframe set includes M first subframes in which the pagingmessage can be received and that follow the start PO of the start PF. Mis a quantity of times that the UE needs to repeatedly receive thepaging message.

Specifically, the UE uses the start PO of the start PF as a reference,and determines, consecutive M subframes in which a paging message can bereceived and that follow the start PO of the start PF as a firstsubframe, where a set of these subframes is referred to as a firstsubframe set.

Further, the first subframe is a subframe, other than an MBSFN subframe,in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence numberis 0 or 4 or 5 or 9 in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframewhose sequence number is 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

It should be noted that, in whichever communications system, the firstsubframe must be a subframe, other than the MBSFN subframe, in eachframe.

Further, when the communications system is an FDD (Frequency DivisionDuplexing, frequency division duplexing) system, the first subframe maybe a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or 4 or 5 or 9 in each frame inthe first discontinuous reception period. When the communications systemis a TDD (Time Division Duplexing, time division duplexing) system, thefirst subframe set may be a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or 1 or5 or 6 in each frame in the first discontinuous reception period.

It should be noted that, subframes 0, 4, 5, and 9 in the FDD system aresubframes that may be used to transmit a paging message in the priorart. Subframes 0, 1, 5, and 6 in the TDD system are subframes that maybe used to transmit a paging message in the prior art.

Exemplarily, when the system is the FDD system, the system is set to bethat a paging message can be received in only subframes 0, 4, 5, and 9.A start PO of a start PF that is determined by the UE according to thefirst radio frame parameter is a subframe whose sequence number is 4 ina third frame, and a quantity of times that the UE needs to repeatedlyreceive a paging message is 50. Starting from the subframe whosesequence number is 4 in the third frame, after the subframe whosesequence number is 4, a first subframe in which a paging message can betransmitted, that is, a subframe whose sequence number is 5 in the thirdframe is determined as the first first subframe. Still starting from thesubframe whose sequence number is 5 in the third frame, after thesubframe whose sequence number is 5, a first subframe in which a pagingmessage can be received, that is, a subframe whose sequence number is 9in the third frame is determined as the second first subframe. Stillstarting from the subframe whose sequence number is 9 in the thirdframe, after the subframe whose sequence number is 9, a first subframein which a paging message can be transmitted, that is, a subframe whosesequence number is 0 in a fourth frame is determined as the third firstsubframe. Such a process is repeated till the fiftieth first subframe isdetermined from the first subframe set, and the determined fifty firstsubframes are determined as the first subframe set.

805: The UE receives, according to the start PF, the start PO, and thefirst subframe set, a paging message sent by the base station.

Specifically, the UE receives, in the start PO of the start PF and ineach subframe in the first subframe set, the paging message sent by thebase station.

It should be noted that, the repeatedly received paging message refersto a paging message received by the UE other than the paging messagereceived in a start PO of a start PF.

It should be noted that, a process in which the UE receives, in eachsubframe in the first subframe set, the paging message sent by the basestation is the same as a process in which the UE receives, in the startPO of the start PF, the paging message sent by the base station.

For the paging method provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, UE receives a broadcast message sent by a base station, andnext, determines whether the UE is UE, that is, first UE, in a coverageenhancement mode. When the UE determines that the UE is the first UE,the UE determines a start paging frame PF and a start paging occasion POaccording to a first radio frame parameter, determines a first subframeset according to the start PF and the start PO, and finally receives,according to the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, thepaging message sent by the base station. In this way, because a firstradio frame parameter is set, UE in a coverage enhancement mode may beenabled to receive only one paging message in one subframe, therebyimplementing paging of UE in an area with relatively poor signalcoverage.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a paging method. Asshown in FIG. 9, the paging method includes:

901: A base station sends a broadcast message to UE.

The broadcast message includes: a first radio frame parameter.

Further, the broadcast message further includes: a second radio frameparameter. A value of the second radio frame parameter is different froma value of the first radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, the second radio frame parameter is a parameterthat enables UE that is not in a coverage enhancement mode in thecoverage of the base station to determine a start PF and a start PO.

It should be noted that, the base station sends the first radio frameparameter and the second radio frame parameter to all UEs served by thebase station, and UE that receives the broadcast message determines,according to whether the UE is UE in a coverage enhancement mode,whether to use the first radio frame parameter or the second radio frameparameter, where when the UE determines that the UE is in the coverageenhancement mode, the UE uses the first radio frame parameter; and whenthe UE determines that the UE is not in the coverage enhancement mode,the UE uses the second radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode usethe same first radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, the first radio frame parameter is a parameterthat enables all UEs in a coverage enhancement mode in the coverage ofthe base station to have a same determined start paging frames PF and asame determined start paging occasions PO, or, the first radio frameparameter is a parameter that enables a difference between determinedstart paging occasions PO of determined start paging frame PFs of everytwo UEs of all UEs in a coverage enhancement mode in the coverage of thebase station to be greater than a preset threshold.

It should be noted that, according to a different parameter carried inthe first radio frame parameter, a method for determining a start PF anda start PO according to the first radio frame parameter is different,which further results in two cases of determined start PFs and start POsof all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode. When the first radio frameparameter includes nB, a start PF and a start PO of each of all UEs inthe coverage enhancement mode are determined according to the existingstandard 36.304, and a difference between the determined start POs ofthe determined start PFs of every two of all UEs is greater than presetthreshold, as shown in a first case or a second case in the following.In this way, a quantity of subframes in which a paging message can besent and that are between the start POs of the start PFs of any two UEsin the coverage enhancement mode is increased, so that a subframe inwhich either UE repeatedly sends a paging message may fall within thestart POs of the start PFs of two UEs, to cause the base station to sendonly one paging message for UE in the coverage enhancement mode in onePO, thereby further resolving a disadvantage in the prior art that UEreceives two paging messages in a same PO and therefore cannotsuccessfully parse out a paging message of the UE, so as to implementsuccessful paging of the UE in the coverage enhancement mode. When thefirst radio frame parameter does not include nB, start PFs and startPOs, of all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode, that are determined byusing the method of the present invention are same, as shown in any oneof a third case to a fifth case in the following. In this case, becausethe determined start PFs and the determined start POs of all the UEs inthe coverage enhancement mode are same, one paging message may be usedto carry paging of all the UEs in the coverage enhancement mode. In thisway, one UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives only one pagingmessage in one PO, thereby further resolving a disadvantage in the priorart that UE receives only two paging messages in a same PO and thereforecannot successfully parse out a paging message of the UE, so as toimplement successful paging of the UE in the coverage enhancement mode.

It should be noted that, UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives apaging message by using a first discontinuous reception period, and UEthat is not in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging messageby using a second discontinuous reception period.

It should be noted that, according to whether the first radio frameparameter includes a first discontinuous reception period, a value ofthe first discontinuous reception period and a value of the seconddiscontinuous reception period may be equal or may be unequal. When thefirst radio frame parameter does not include a first discontinuousreception period, a value of the first discontinuous reception periodand a value of the second discontinuous reception period are equal, asshown in the first case in the following. When the first radio frameparameter includes a first discontinuous reception period, a value ofthe first discontinuous reception period and a value of the seconddiscontinuous reception period are unequal, but the value of the firstdiscontinuous reception period and the value of the second discontinuousreception period do not have a fixed value relationship, as shown in anyone of the second case to the fifth case in the following.

It should be noted that, according to different content included in thefirst radio frame parameter, there may be five cases:

In the first case, the first radio frame parameter is nB.

nB is used to determine a quantity of paging occasions in each pagingframe, a value of nB is less than a value of a first discontinuousreception period, and the first discontinuous reception period is aperiod in which the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives apaging message.

Specifically, refer to the first case in step 801, and details are nolonger described herein.

In the second case, the first radio frame parameter is nB and a firstdiscontinuous reception period.

A value of nB is less than a value of the first discontinuous receptionperiod. The first discontinuous reception period is a period in whichthe UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

In the third case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period.

The first discontinuous reception period is a period in which the UE inthe coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

In the fourth case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period and a PF offset.

It should be noted that, the PF offset is a preset value.

In the fifth case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period, a PF offset, and a first PO.

It should be noted that, the first PO is one or more POs in each PF thatare preset in a system.

902: The base station determines whether the UE is first UE.

The first UE is UE in a coverage enhancement mode. The coverageenhancement mode is a mode in which the base station needs to repeatedlysend a paging message.

Specifically, refer to the step of determining, by the UE, whether theUE is first UE in step 802, and details are no longer described herein.

903: When the base station determines that the UE is the first UE, thebase station determines a start PF and a start PO according to a firstradio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, according to a different first radio frameparameter, a method of determining, by the base station, a start PF anda start PO according to the first radio frame parameter is different.

Specifically, there may be the following five cases:

In the first case, the first radio frame parameter is nB.

nB is used to determine a quantity of paging occasions in each pagingframe, a value of nB is less than a value of a first discontinuousreception period, and the first discontinuous reception period is aperiod in which the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives apaging message.

Specifically, refer to the first case in step 803, and details are nolonger described herein.

In the second case, the first radio frame parameter is nB and a firstdiscontinuous reception period.

A value of nB is less than a value of the first discontinuous receptionperiod, and the first discontinuous reception period is a period inwhich the UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

Specifically, refer to the second case in step 803, and details are nolonger described herein.

In the third case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period.

The first discontinuous reception period is a period in which the UE inthe coverage enhancement mode receives a paging message.

The determining, by the base station, a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter includes:

determining, by the base station, a PF, which meets a formula SFN modT=0, in a system frame number SFN as the start PF, and determining apreset PO as the start PO, where T denotes the first discontinuousreception period.

Specifically, refer to the third case in step 803, and details are nolonger described herein.

In the fourth case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period and a PF offset.

The determining, by the base station, a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter includes:

determining, by the base station, a PF, which meets a formula SFN modT=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determining a preset PO as the startPO, where W denotes the PF offset, and T denotes the first discontinuousreception period.

Specifically, refer to the fourth case in step 803, and details are nolonger described herein.

In the fifth case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period, a PF offset, and a first PO.

The determining, by the base station, a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter includes:

determining, by the base station, a PF, which meets a formula SFN modT=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determining the first PO as thestart PO, where T denotes the first discontinuous reception period, andW denotes the PF offset.

Specifically, refer to the fifth case in step 803, and details are nolonger described herein.

904: The base station determines a first subframe set according to thestart PF and the start PO.

The first subframe set includes M first subframes in which the pagingmessage can be sent and that follow the start PO of the start PF. M is aquantity of times that the base station needs to repeatedly send thepaging message.

Further, the first subframe is a subframe, other than a multicastbroadcast single frequency network MBSFN subframe, in each frame; or thefirst subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or 4 or 5 or 9in each frame; or the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence numberis 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

Specifically, refer to the step of determining, by the UE, a firstsubframe set according to the start PF and the start PO in step 804, anddetails are no longer described herein.

905: The base station sends a paging message to the UE according to thestart PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set.

Specifically, the base station sends the paging message for the UE inthe start PO of the start PF and in each subframe in the first subframeset.

It should be noted that, the repeatedly sent paging message refers to apaging message sent by the base station outside the start PO of thestart PF.

It should be noted that, a process in which the base station sends thepaging message in each subframe in the first subframe set is the same asa process in which the base station sends the paging message in thestart PO of the start PF.

For the paging method provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, a base station sends a broadcast message to UE, and next,determines whether the UE is UE, that is, first UE, in a coverageenhancement mode. When it is determined that the UE is the first UE, thebase station determines a start paging frame PF and a start pagingoccasion PO according to a first radio frame parameter, determines afirst subframe set according to the start PF and the start PO, andfinally sends a paging message according to the start PF, the start PO,and the first subframe set. In this way, because a first radio frameparameter is set, UE in a coverage enhancement mode may be enabled toreceive only one paging message in one subframe, thereby implementingpaging of UE in an area with relatively poor signal coverage.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a paging method. Asshown in FIG. 10, the paging method includes:

1001: The UE updates information about a camp-on cell and/or pagingenhancement information.

The camp-on cell is a cell to which the UE is currently connected. Thepaging enhancement information is used to indicate a coverageenhancement level of the UE.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the coverage enhancementmode of all UEs in a coverage enhancement mode is further divided intomultiple paging enhancement levels. Each paging enhancement levelcorresponds to a quantity of times that a paging message needs to bereceived, and different enhancement levels correspond to differentquantities of times that a paging message needs to be received.

It should be noted that, in a case without division into coverageenhancement levels, quantities of times that all UEs in the coverageenhancement mode receive a paging message are the same, and a pagingmessage is sent according to quantities of times that successful pagingof all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode can be performed. For thoseUEs that only need to repeatedly receive a paging message a few times,if a paging message is sent still according to a maximum quantity oftimes that successful paging can be performed, a lot of resources arewasted. Therefore, this embodiment proposes that for UEs in differentcoverage enhancement modes, according to a different paging enhancementlevel, a different quantity of times of sending a paging message isused, thereby further reducing a waste of resources.

Specifically, when the coverage enhancement level of the UE changes butthe camp-on cell does not change, only the paging enhancementinformation needs to be updated. When a cell on which the UE campschanges, but the coverage enhancement level of the UE does not change,only the information about the camp-on cell needs to be updated. Whenboth the camp-on cell and the coverage enhancement level of the UEchange, the information about the camp-on cell and the pagingenhancement information need to be updated.

1002: The UE sends the updated information about the camp-on cell and/orthe updated paging enhancement information to a base station. The basestation receives the information about the camp-on cell and/or thepaging enhancement information sent by the UE.

It should be noted that, the UE sends only the updated information tothe base station, that is, when the UE updates only the informationabout the camp-on cell, only the information about the camp-on cellneeds to be sent to the base station. When the UE updates only thepaging enhancement information, only the paging enhancement informationneeds to be sent to the base station. When the UE updates the pagingenhancement information and also updates the information about thecamp-on cell, the information about the camp-on cell and the pagingenhancement information need to be sent to the base station.

1003: The base station sends a broadcast message to the UE. The userequipment UE receives the broadcast message sent by the base station.

Further, the broadcast message further includes: a second radio frameparameter. A value of the second radio frame parameter is different froma value of a first radio frame parameter.

Specifically, refer to step 801 and step 901, and details are no longerdescribed herein.

1004: The UE determines whether the UE is first UE. The base stationdetermines whether the UE is the first UE.

The first UE is UE in a coverage enhancement mode. The coverageenhancement mode is a mode in which a paging message sent by the basestation needs to be repeatedly received.

Specifically, refer to step 802, and details are no longer describedherein.

It should be noted that, a different step is performed according to adifferent determining result. When the UE is not the first UE, performstep 1005 and step 1006; and when the UE is the first UE, perform step1007 to step 1012.

1005: When the UE determines that the UE is not the first UE, the UEdetermines a second subframe according to a second radio frameparameter. The base station determines the second subframe according tothe second radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, when the UE is not the first UE, the UE onlyneeds to determine the second subframe according to the second radioframe parameter by using a calculation method in the prior art.

It should be noted that, the second radio frame parameter is a parameterthat needs to be sent by the base station to the UE when the PF and thePO of the UE are determined according to the standard 36.304 in theprior art.

1006: The base station sends a second paging message to the UE in thesecond subframe. The UE receives, in the second subframe, the secondpaging message sent by the base station.

Specifically, the methods by using which the base station sends thesecond paging message to the UE in the second subframe and the UEreceives, in the second subframe, the second paging message sent by thebase station are the same as the methods in the prior art by using whichthe base station sends a paging message to the UE on a PO of adetermined PF and the UE receives, in the PO of the calculated PF, apaging message sent by the base station, and details are no longerdescribed herein.

1007: The UE obtains adjustment information.

The adjustment information is used to record a correspondence between acoverage enhancement level and a grading parameter, the gradingparameter is used to differentiate UEs having different coverageenhancement levels, and a coverage enhancement level of the UEcorresponds to a quantity of times that the UE receives a pagingmessage.

It should be noted that, when coverage enhancement modes of UEs are notclassified according to a level, all UEs receive a paging messageaccording to a maximum quantity of times that a paging message needs tobe repeatedly received. In this way, for UE that does not need toreceive a paging message according to a maximum quantity of times ofreceiving a paging message repeatedly, many resources are wasted.Therefore, on such a basis, according to a different coverageenhancement level of UE, different adjustment information is provided tothe UE, so that for UE having a different coverage enhancement level, aquantity of times of sending a paging message is different.

Exemplarily, a coverage enhancement level at which a paging messageneeds to be repeatedly received 50 times may be set to 1, a coverageenhancement level at which a paging message needs to be repeatedlyreceived 100 times may be set to 2, and a coverage enhancement level atwhich a paging message needs to be repeatedly received 150 times may beset to 3.

Further, according to a different setting of a system, there are twomethods of obtaining, by the UE, adjustment information:

First, the base station sends adjustment information to the UE. The UEreceives the adjustment information sent by the base station.

It should be noted that, the base station may add the adjustmentinformation to the broadcast message and send the adjustment informationand the first radio frame parameter together to the UE, or may add theadjustment information to another message, for example, anotherbroadcast message or an RRC message, sent from the base station to theUE and send the adjustment information. Which message the base stationuses to carry the adjustment information is not limited in the presentinvention.

It should be noted that, the adjustment information records all coverageenhancement levels and a grading parameter corresponding to eachcoverage enhancement level, and therefore the base station sends theadjustment information to all UEs in the coverage enhancement mode.

Second, the UE obtains prestored adjustment information locally.

It should be noted that, in this case, the adjustment information isrecorded in each UE when the system is established.

Further, the grading parameter includes: an RNTI (Radio NetworkTemporary Identity, radio network temporary identity), or a PO offset,or a PF group, or a PO group.

The PF group is used to record a PF corresponding to one coverageenhancement level, and the PO group is used to record one POcorresponding to the coverage enhancement level.

1008: The UE obtains a coverage enhancement level of the UE, and sendsthe coverage enhancement level to the base station. The base stationreceives the coverage enhancement level, sent by the UE, of the UE.

It should be noted that, the UE determines the coverage enhancementlevel of the UE according to signal strength of the UE.

1009: The UE determines a grading parameter of the UE according to theadjustment information and the coverage enhancement level of the UE. Thebase station determines a grading parameter of the UE according to theadjustment information and the coverage enhancement level of the UE.

It should be noted that, the UE and the base station find, in theadjustment information, a record having a same coverage enhancementlevel as the UE, and obtain an adjustment parameter of the UE accordingto a one-to-one correspondence between a coverage enhancement level andan adjustment parameter.

1010: The UE determines a start paging frame PF and a start pagingoccasion PO according to a first radio frame parameter. The base stationdetermines the start PF and the start PO according to the first radioframe parameter and the grading parameter of the UE.

It should be noted that, when impact of the grading parameter is notconsidered, for a process of determining a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter, refer to step 803, anddetails are no longer described herein.

It should be noted that, the grading parameter includes: a PO offset, ora PF group, or a PO group, and the determining a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter includes: determining, bythe UE, the start PF and the start PO according to the first radio frameparameter and the grading parameter of the UE.

Specifically, according to a specific different case of the gradingparameter, there may be three cases:

In a first case, the grading parameter includes: the PO offset, and thedetermining, by the UE, the start PF and the start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter and the grading parameter of the UEincludes:

Step 1: Determine a first PF and a first PO according to the first radioframe parameter.

It should be noted that, a method of determining the first PF and thefirst PO according to the first radio frame parameter is the same as thethe method of determining, by the UE, a start PF and a start POaccording to the first radio frame parameter in step 803, and detailsare no longer described herein.

Step 2: Determine, as the start PF and the start PO, a corresponding PFand PO that are obtained after an offset of subframes whose quantityequals the PO offset of the UE and in which the paging message can bereceived is performed starting with the first PO of a first PF.

It should be noted that, when the UE offsets onward starting with thefirst PO of the first PF, if a subframe in which a paging message cannotbe received is encountered, the subframe is not counted as subframe thatneeds to be offset.

Exemplarily, when one frame has ten subframes whose sequence numbers are0 to 9, where subframes whose sequence numbers are 0, 4, 5, and 9 aresubframes in which a paging message can be transmitted, the subframewhose sequence number is 0 in a first frame is a first PO of a first PF,and a PO offset is 2. In this case, a start PO of a start PF is asubframe whose sequence number is 5 in the first frame instead of asubframe whose sequence number is 2 in the first frame.

In a second case, the grading parameter includes: the PF group, wherethe determining, by the UE, the start PF and the start PO according tothe first radio frame parameter and the grading parameter of the UEincludes:

Step 1: Determine a first PF and the first PO according to the firstradio frame parameter.

Specifically, a method of determining the first PF and the first POaccording to the first radio frame parameter is the same as the methodof determining, by the UE, a start PF and a start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter in step 803, and details are no longerdescribed herein.

Step 2: Determine a first PF and the first PO of a PF corresponding tothe PF group of the UE as the start PF and the start PO.

Specifically, the calculated all first PF groups and a first PO of a PFcorresponding to the PF group of the UE are determined as start PFs anda start PO.

In a third case, the grading parameter includes: the PO group, and thedetermining, by the UE, the start PF and the start PO according to thefirst radio frame parameter and the grading parameter of the UEincludes:

Step 1: Determine a first PF according to the first radio frameparameter.

Specifically, a method of determining the first PF according to thefirst radio frame parameter is the same as the method of determining, bythe UE, a start PF according to the first radio frame parameter in step803, and details are no longer described herein.

Step 2: Determine a first PF and a PO corresponding to the PO group ofthe UE as the start PF and the start PO.

Specifically, a calculated first PF is determined as a start PF, all POsin the first PF are grouped, and a PO, corresponding to the PO group ofthe UE, of all the POs, is determined as the start PO.

1011: The UE determines a first subframe set according to the start PFand the start PO. The base station determines the first subframe setaccording to the start PF and the start PO.

The first subframe set includes M first subframes in which the pagingmessage can be received and that follow the start PO of the start PF. Mis a quantity of times that the UE needs to repeatedly receive thepaging message.

Specifically, refer to step 804, and details are no longer describedherein.

1012: The base station sends the paging message to the UE according tothe start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set. The UE receives,according to the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, thepaging message sent by the base station.

It should be noted that, in a case in which the grading parameter is notan RNTI, the base station sends the paging message to the UE accordingto the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, and the UEreceives, according to the start PF, the start PO, and the firstsubframe set, the paging message sent by the base station, which are thesame as step 902 and step 805, and details are no longer describedherein.

Further, the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where the UEreceives, according to the start PF, the start PO, and the firstsubframe set, the paging message sent by the base station, and thesending, by the base station, the paging message to the UE according tothe start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set includes:

receiving, in the start PO of the start PF and in a subframe in thefirst subframe set according to the RNTI of the UE, the paging messagesent by the base station.

Specifically, when the UE receives the paging message, the UE listens tofind whether there is a PDCCH (physical downlink control channel,physical downlink control channel) scrambled by using the RNTI of theUE, and when the UE listens and detects a PDSCH scrambled by using theRNTI, it indicates that the base station sends the paging message to theUE, so that the UE receives, in the start PO of the start PF and asubframe in the first subframe set, the paging message sent by the basestation.

For the paging method provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, UE receives a broadcast message sent by a base station, andnext, determines whether the UE is UE, that is, first UE, in a coverageenhancement mode. When the UE determines that the UE is the first UE,the UE and the base station both determine a start paging frame PF and astart paging occasion PO according to a first radio frame parameter, anddetermine a first subframe set according to the start PF and the startPO. Finally, the base station sends a paging message to the UE accordingto the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, and the UEreceives the paging message according to the start PF, the start PO, andthe first subframe set. In this way, because a first radio frameparameter is set, UE in a coverage enhancement mode may be enabled toreceive only one paging message in one subframe, thereby implementingpaging of UE in an area with relatively poor signal coverage.

As shown in FIG. 11, FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of userequipment UE according to an embodiment of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 11, the UE includes: a receiver 1101, a memory 1102,and a processor 1103 separately connected to the receiver 1101 and thememory 1102.

The memory 1102 stores a group of program code, and the processor 1103is configured to invoke the program code in the memory 1102.Specifically:

The receiver 1101 is configured to receive a broadcast message sent by abase station.

The broadcast message includes: a first radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, the first radio frame parameter includes thefollowing five cases: In a first case, the first radio frame parameteris nB, where nB is used to determine a quantity of paging occasions ineach paging frame, a value of nB is less than a value of a firstdiscontinuous reception period, and the first discontinuous receptionperiod is a period in which the UE in the coverage enhancement modereceives a paging message. In a second case, the first radio frameparameter is nB and a first discontinuous reception period. In a thirdcase, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuous receptionperiod. In a fourth case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period and a PF offset. In a fifth case, thefirst radio frame parameter is a first discontinuous reception period,and a PF offset, and a first PO.

The processor 1103 is configured to determine whether the UE is firstUE.

The first UE is UE in the coverage enhancement mode. The coverageenhancement mode is a mode in which a paging message sent by the basestation needs to be repeatedly received.

The processor 1103 is further configured to: in a case in which it isdetermined that the UE is the first UE, determine a start PF and a startPO according to the first radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, according to a different first radio frameparameter, there may be several specific application cases of theprocessor 1103 as follows.

First, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuousreception period. The processor 1103 is specifically configured todetermine a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=0, in a system framenumber SFN as the start PF, and determine a preset PO as the start PO,where T denotes the first discontinuous reception period.

Second, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuousreception period and a PF offset. The processor 1103 is specificallyconfigured to determine a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in anSFN as the start PF, and determine a preset PO as the start PO. Wdenotes the PF offset, where T denotes the first discontinuous receptionperiod.

Third, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuousreception period, a PF offset, and a first PO. The processor 1103 isspecifically configured to determine a PF, which meets a formula SFN modT=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determine the first PO as the startPO, where T denotes the first discontinuous reception period, and Wdenotes the PF offset.

The processor 1103 is further configured to determine a first subframeset according to the start PF and the start PO.

The first subframe set includes M first subframes in which the pagingmessage can be received and that follow the start PO of the start PF. Mis a quantity of times that the UE needs to repeatedly receive thepaging message.

Further, the first subframe is a subframe, other than a multicastbroadcast single frequency network MBSFN subframe, in each frame; or thefirst subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or 4 or 5 or 9in each frame; the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

The receiver 1101 is further configured to receive, according to thestart PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, the paging messagesent by the base station.

Further, the broadcast message further includes: a second radio frameparameter. A value of the second radio frame parameter is different froma value of the first radio frame parameter.

In this case, the processor 1103 is further configured to: in a case inwhich it is determined that the UE is not the first UE, determine asecond subframe according to the second radio frame parameter.

The receiver 1101 is further configured to receive, in the secondsubframe, a second paging message sent by the base station.

The processor 1103 is further configured to obtain adjustmentinformation.

The adjustment information is used to record a correspondence between acoverage enhancement level and a grading parameter, the gradingparameter is used to differentiate UEs having different coverageenhancement levels, and a coverage enhancement level of the UEcorresponds to a quantity of times that the UE receives a pagingmessage.

Further, the grading parameter includes: a radio network temporaryidentity RNTI, or a PO offset, or a PF group, or a PO group, where thePF group is used to record a PF corresponding to one coverageenhancement level, and the PO group is used to record one POcorresponding to the coverage enhancement level.

Further, the processor 1103 is specifically configured to receive theadjustment information sent by the base station; or the processor 1103is specifically configured to obtain the prestored adjustmentinformation locally.

The processor 1103 is further configured to obtain the coverageenhancement level of the UE.

Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the UE further includes: a transmitter1104.

The transmitter 1104 is configured to send the coverage enhancementlevel to the base station.

The processor 1103 is further configured to determine a gradingparameter of the UE according to the adjustment information and thecoverage enhancement level of the UE.

In this case, the receiver 1101 is specifically configured to receive,according to the start PF, the start PO, the first subframe set, and thegrading parameter of the UE, the paging message sent by the basestation.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where thereceiver 1101 is specifically configured to receive, in the start PO ofthe start PF and in a subframe in the first subframe set according tothe RNTI of the UE, the paging message sent by the base station.

Alternatively:

In this case, the processor 1103 is specifically configured to determinethe start PF and the start PO according to the first radio frameparameter and the grading parameter of the UE.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the PO offset, where theprocessor 1103 is specifically configured to determine a first PF and afirst PO according to the first radio frame parameter. The processor1103 is specifically configured to: determine, as the start PF and thestart PO, a corresponding PF and PO that are obtained after an offset ofsubframes whose quantity equals the PO offset of the UE and in which thepaging message can be received is performed starting with the first POof the first PF.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the PF group, where theprocessor 1103 is specifically configured to determine a first PF andthe first PO according to the first radio frame parameter. The processor1103 is specifically configured to determine the first PF and the firstPO of a PF corresponding to the PF group of the UE as the start PF andthe start PO.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the PO group, where theprocessor 1103 is specifically configured to determine a first PFaccording to the first radio frame parameter. The processor 1103 isspecifically configured to determine the first PF and a PO correspondingto the PO group of the UE as the start PF and the start PO.

The processor 1103 is further configured to update information about acamp-on cell and/or paging enhancement information.

The camp-on cell is a cell to which the UE is currently connected, andthe paging enhancement information is used to indicate the coverageenhancement level of the UE.

The transmitter 1104 is further configured to send the updatedinformation about the camp-on cell and/or the updated paging enhancementinformation to the base station.

For the UE provided in this embodiment of the present invention, the UEreceives a broadcast message sent by a base station, and next,determines whether the UE is UE, that is, first UE, in a coverageenhancement mode. When the UE determines that the UE is the first UE,the UE determines a start paging frame PF and a start paging occasion POaccording to a first radio frame parameter, determines a first subframeset according to the start PF and the start PO, and finally receives,according to the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, thepaging message sent by the base station. In this way, because a firstradio frame parameter is set, UE in a coverage enhancement mode may beenabled to receive only one paging message in one subframe, therebyimplementing paging of UE in an area with relatively poor signalcoverage.

As shown in FIG. 13, FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a basestation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referringto FIG. 13, the base station includes: a transmitter 1301, a memory1302, and a processor 1303 separately connected to the transmitter 1301and the memory 1302.

The memory 1302 stores a group of program code, and the transmitter 1301is configured to invoke the program code in the memory 1302.Specifically:

The transmitter 1301 is configured to send a broadcast message to userequipment UE.

The broadcast message includes: a first radio frame parameter.

It should be noted that, there are the following five cases of the firstradio frame parameter: In a first case, the first radio frame parameteris nB, where nB is used to determine a quantity of paging occasions ineach paging frame, a value of nB is less than a value of a firstdiscontinuous reception period, and the first discontinuous receptionperiod is a period in which the UE in the coverage enhancement modereceives a paging message. In a second case, the first radio frameparameter is nB and a first discontinuous reception period. In a thirdcase, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuous receptionperiod. In a fourth case, the first radio frame parameter is a firstdiscontinuous reception period and a PF offset. In a fifth case, thefirst radio frame parameter is a first discontinuous reception period,and a PF offset, and a first PO.

The processor 1303 is configured to determine whether the UE is firstUE.

The first UE is UE in the coverage enhancement mode. The coverageenhancement mode is a mode in which the base station needs to repeatedlysend a paging message.

The processor 1303 is further configured to: in a case in which it isdetermined that the UE is the first UE, determine a start PF and a startPO according to the first radio frame parameter.

Specifically, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuousreception period, where the first discontinuous reception period is aperiod in which UE in the coverage enhancement mode receives a pagingmessage. The processor 1303 is specifically configured to determine aPF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=0, in a system frame number SFN asthe start PF, and determine a preset PO as the start PO, where T denotesthe first discontinuous reception period.

Specifically, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuousreception period and a PF offset. The processor 1303 is specificallyconfigured to determine a PF, which meets a formula SFN mod T=W, in anSFN as the start PF, and determine a preset PO as the start PO, where Wdenotes the PF offset, and T denotes the first discontinuous receptionperiod.

Specifically, the first radio frame parameter is a first discontinuousreception period, and a PF offset, and a first PO. The processor 1303 isspecifically configured to determine a PF, which meets a formula SFN modT=W, in an SFN as the start PF, and determine the first PO as the startPO, where T denotes the first discontinuous reception period, and Wdenotes the PF offset.

The processor 1303 is further configured to determine a first subframeset according to the start PF and the start PO.

The first subframe set includes M first subframes in which the pagingmessage can be sent and that follow the start PO of the start PF. M is aquantity of times that the base station needs to repeatedly send apaging message.

Specifically, the first subframe is a subframe, other than a multicastbroadcast single frequency network MBSFN subframe, in each frame. or,the first subframe is a subframe whose sequence number is 0 or 4 or 5 or9 in each frame. or, the first subframe is a subframe whose sequencenumber is 0 or 1 or 5 or 6 in each frame.

The transmitter 1301 is further configured to send the paging message tothe UE according to the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframeset.

Further, the broadcast message further includes: a second radio frameparameter. A value of the second radio frame parameter is different froma value of the first radio frame parameter.

The processor 1303 is further configured to: in a case in which it isdetermined that the UE is not the first UE, determine a second subframeaccording to the second radio frame parameter.

The transmitter 1301 is further configured to send a second pagingmessage to the UE in the second subframe.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14, the base station further includes: areceiver 1304.

In this case, the transmitter 1301 is further configured to sendadjustment information to the UE.

The adjustment information is used to record a correspondence between acoverage enhancement level and a grading parameter, the gradingparameter is used to differentiate UEs having different coverageenhancement levels, and a coverage enhancement level of the UEcorresponds to a quantity of times that the UE needs to repeatedlyreceive a paging message.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: a radio network temporaryidentity RNTI, or a PO offset, or a paging frame PF group, or a POgroup, where the PF group is used to record a PF corresponding to onecoverage enhancement level, and the PO group is used to record one POcorresponding to the coverage enhancement level.

The receiver 1304 is configured to receive the coverage enhancementlevel, sent by the UE, of the UE.

The processor 1303 is further configured to determine a gradingparameter of the UE according to the adjustment information and thecoverage enhancement level of the UE.

The processor 1303 is specifically configured to determine the start PFand the start PO according to the first radio frame parameter and thegrading parameter of the UE.

The grading parameter includes: the PO offset.

The processor 1303 is specifically configured to determine a first PFand a first PO according to the first radio frame parameter.

The processor 1303 is specifically configured to: determine, as thestart PF and the start PO, a corresponding PF and PO that are obtainedafter an offset of subframes whose quantity equals the PO offset of theUE and in which the paging message can be received is performed startingwith the first PO of the first PF.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the PF group, where theprocessor 1303 is specifically configured to determine a first PF andthe first PO according to the first radio frame parameter. The processor1303 is specifically configured to determine the first PF and the firstPO of a PF corresponding to the PF group of the UE as the start PF andthe start PO.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the PO group, where theprocessor 1303 is specifically configured to determine a first PFaccording to the first radio frame parameter. The processor 1303 isspecifically configured to determine the first PF and a PO correspondingto the PO group of the UE as the start PF and the start PO.

Alternatively:

The transmitter 1301 is specifically configured to send the pagingmessage to the UE according to the start PF, the start PO, the firstsubframe set, and the grading parameter of the UE.

Specifically, the grading parameter includes: the RNTI, where thetransmitter 1301 is specifically configured to send the paging messagein the start PO of the start PF and in a subframe in the first subframeset according to the RNTI of the UE.

Further, the receiver 1304 is further configured to receive information,about a camp-on cell, sent by the UE and/or paging enhancementinformation.

The camp-on cell is a cell to which the UE is currently connected, andthe paging enhancement information is used to indicate the coverageenhancement level of the UE.

For the base station provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, the base station first sends a broadcast message to UE, andnext, determines whether the UE is UE, that is, first UE, in a coverageenhancement mode. When it is determined that the UE is the first UE, thebase station determines a start paging frame PF and a start pagingoccasion PO according to a first radio frame parameter, determines afirst subframe set according to the start PF and the start PO, andfinally sends a paging message according to the start PF, the start PO,and the first subframe set. In this way, because a first radio frameparameter is set, UE in a coverage enhancement mode may be enabled toreceive only one paging message in one subframe, thereby implementingpaging of UE in an area with relatively poor signal coverage.

As shown in FIG. 15, FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of apaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention.Referring to FIG. 15, the paging system includes: user equipment UE 1501and a base station 1502.

The user equipment UE 1501 is the UE in the foregoing embodiment.

The base station 1502 is the base station in the foregoing embodiment.

For the paging system provided in this embodiment of the presentinvention, UE receives a broadcast message sent by a base station, andnext, determines whether the UE is UE, that is, first UE, in a coverageenhancement mode. When the UE determines that the UE is the first UE,the UE and the base station both determine a start paging frame PF and astart paging occasion PO according to a first radio frame parameter, anddetermine a first subframe set according to the start PF and the startPO. Finally, the base station sends a paging message to the UE accordingto the start PF, the start PO, and the first subframe set, and the UEreceives the paging message according to the start PF, the start PO, andthe first subframe set. In this way, because a first radio frameparameter is set, UE in a coverage enhancement mode may be enabled toreceive only one paging message in one subframe, thereby implementingpaging of UE in an area with relatively poor signal coverage.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, itshould be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus, and methodmay be implemented in other manners. For example, the describedapparatus embodiment is merely exemplary. For example, the unit divisionis merely logical function division and may be other division in actualimplementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may becombined or integrated into another system, or some features may beignored or not performed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutualcouplings or direct couplings or communication connections may beimplemented by using some interfaces. The indirect couplings orcommunication connections between the apparatuses or units may beimplemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physicallyseparate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units,may be located in one position, or may be distributed on a plurality ofnetwork units. Some or all of the units may be selected according toactual needs to achieve the objectives of the solutions of theembodiments.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the presentinvention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of theunits may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integratedinto one unit. The integrated unit may be implemented in a form ofhardware, or may be implemented in a form of hardware in addition to asoftware functional unit.

When the foregoing integrated unit is implemented in a form of asoftware functional unit, the integrated unit may be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium. The software functional unit is storedin a storage medium and includes several instructions for instructing acomputer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a networkdevice, or the like) to perform some of the steps of the methodsdescribed in the embodiments of the present invention. The foregoingstorage medium includes: any medium that can store program code, such asa USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (Read-OnlyMemory, ROM for short), a random access memory (Random Access Memory,RAM for short), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.

Finally, it should be noted that the foregoing embodiments are merelyintended for describing the technical solutions of the present inventionbut not for limiting the present invention. Although the presentinvention is described in detail with reference to the foregoingembodiments, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand thatthey may still make modifications to the technical solutions describedin the foregoing embodiments or make equivalent replacements to sometechnical features thereof, without departing from the spirit and scopeof the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a receiver configured toreceive a broadcast message, wherein the broadcast message comprises afirst radio frame parameter; and a processor configured to determine astart paging frame (PF) and a start paging occasion (PO) according tothe first radio frame parameter, wherein the receiver is furtherconfigured to receive a paging message according to the start PF, thestart PO, and a first subframe set, the first subframe set comprises Mfirst subframes in which the paging message can be received and thefirst subframe set follows the start PO of the start PF, and M is aquantity of times that the paging message needs to be repeatedlyreceived.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatusis configured with a coverage enhancement mode, and when the apparatusis in the coverage enhancement mode, the paging message needs to berepeatedly received M times.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein: the broadcast message further comprises a second radio frameparameter different from the first radio frame parameter, the secondradio frame parameter is used to determine a second subframe in whichanother paging message is received in a non-coverage enhancement mode.4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the first subframes donot include a multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN)subframe in a radio frame; or the first subframes include at least oneof subframe 0, subframe 4, subframe 5, and subframe 9 in a radio frame;or the first subframes include at least one of subframe 0, subframe 1,subframe 5, and subframe 6 in a radio frame.
 5. The apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein: the first radio frame parameter comprises at leastone of nB and a first discontinuous reception period, wherein nB is usedto determine a quantity of paging occasions in each paging frame, andthe first discontinuous reception period is a period in which theapparatus receives a paging message.
 6. The apparatus according to claim5, wherein a value of nB is less than a value of the first discontinuousreception period.
 7. An apparatus comprising: a transmitter configuredto send a broadcast message, wherein the broadcast message comprises afirst radio frame parameter; and a processor configured to determine astart paging frame (PF) and a start paging occasion (PO) according tothe first radio frame parameter, wherein the transmitter is furtherconfigured to send a paging message according to the start PF, the startPO, and a first subframe set, the first subframe set comprises M firstsubframes in which the paging message can be sent and the first subframeset follows the start PO of the start PF, and M is a quantity of timesthat the apparatus needs to repeatedly send the paging message.
 8. Theapparatus according to claim 7, wherein the apparatus is configured witha coverage enhancement mode, and when the apparatus is in the coverageenhancement mode, the paging message needs to be repeatedly received Mtimes.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein: the broadcastmessage further comprises a second radio frame parameter different fromthe first radio frame parameter, the second radio frame parameter fordetermining a second subframe in which another paging message is sent ina non-coverage enhancement mode.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 7,wherein: the first subframes do not include a multicast broadcast singlefrequency network (MBSFN) subframe in a radio frame; or the firstsubframes include at least one of subframe 0, subframe 4, subframe 5,and subframe 9 in a radio frame; or the first subframes include at leastone of subframe 0, subframe 1, subframe 5, and subframe 6 in a radioframe.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein: the first radioframe parameter comprises at least one of nB and a first discontinuousreception period, the nB for determining a quantity of paging occasionsin each paging frame, and the first discontinuous reception period is aperiod in which the apparatus receives a paging message.
 12. Theapparatus according to claim 10, wherein a value of nB is less than avalue of the first discontinuous reception period.
 13. A non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium storing a set of instructions, thatwhen executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to: receive abroadcast message, wherein the broadcast message comprises a first radioframe parameter; determine a start paging frame (PF) and a start pagingoccasion (PO) according to the first radio frame parameter; and receivea paging message according to the start PF, the start PO, and a firstsubframe set, wherein the first subframe set comprises M first subframesin which the paging message can be received and the first subframe setfollows the start PO of the start PF, and wherein M is a quantity oftimes that the paging message needs to be repeatedly received.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 13,wherein: the apparatus is configured with a coverage enhancement mode,and when the apparatus is in the coverage enhancement mode, the pagingmessage needs to be repeatedly received M times.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein: thebroadcast message further comprises a second radio frame parameterdifferent from the first radio frame parameter, the second radio frameparameter is used to determine a second subframe in which another pagingmessage is received in a non-coverage enhancement mode.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 13,wherein: the first subframes do not include a multicast broadcast singlefrequency network (MBSFN) subframe in a radio frame; or the firstsubframes include at least one of subframe 0, subframe 4, subframe 5,and subframe 9 in a radio frame; or the first subframes include at leastone of subframe 0, subframe 1, subframe 5, and subframe 6 in a radioframe.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium accordingto claim 13, wherein: the first radio frame parameter comprises at leastone of nB and a first discontinuous reception period, wherein nB is usedto determine a quantity of paging occasions in each paging frame, andthe first discontinuous reception period is a period in which theapparatus receives a paging message.
 18. The non-transitory computerreadable storage medium according to claim 17, wherein a value of nB isless than a value of the first discontinuous reception period.